Noida: If you live in Noida or Greater Noida and are planning to throw a party at home or a community hall where alcohol could be served, you may as well consider applying for an occasional bar licence and be on the right side of the law.
Not having a liquor licence for parties even at home or at the community level is a violation of rules and could attract legal proceedings, including fine, Subodh Kumar Srivastava, District Excise Officer (DEO), Gautam Buddh Nagar, told PTI.
To address people’s poor awareness of excise-related rules, authorities have started reaching out to residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) and citizens, informing them about guidelines for procuring occasional licences.
“If anyone is serving liquor without a licence, whether it is liquor meant for sale in Uttar Pradesh or outside the state, it is totally illegal. It will attract action (from the excise department),” Srivastava said.
Such occasional licences to serve liquor at parties are available in two categories. One is for individuals where the gathering size is low, like house parties against a fee of Rs 4,000. The other licence comes for Rs 11,000 and allows serving alcohol to larger crowds attending events at community halls, restaurants, or banquets, among others, he added.
“Both these occasional licences are valid for one day. Applicants can apply for them on the website — upexciseportal.in — under the category of useful public services,” the DEO said.
He added that the excise department’s public outreach is also showing good results as more people have started applying for the occasional bar licences.
According to official figures, 5,820 such licences were issued in 2022 from April 1 to November 30, whereas 8,770 were issued during the same period this fiscal year, an increase of 40 per cent.
“The department issued 900 occasional bar licences in November alone, which is the highest in recent times for a single month. This also led to huge revenue earning for the government,” Srivastava said.
On the objective behind the policy covering even private celebrations at home, the excise officer said its advantages are multifold.
“First, when you take a licence, it will ensure that the liquor served in a party would be authentic and not illicit. This will also make sure that the applicant buys liquor locally which is meant for consumption only within the state and is not procured from other states, which would cause a revenue loss to the government,” he explained.
The officer added that the department has also issued a helpline number 8882120733 where residents can share information on the consumption of illegal narcotics or drugs, or any other tip-off related to liquor use.
Asked how would excise officials come to know if liquor is being served at someone’s private party at home, Srivastava said the excise department has a widespread network of informers across the district and also gets information through liquor vends and outlets, which notice abnormally high sales.
“Moreover, sometimes neighbours get annoyed and raise an alarm about nuisance at such parties which leads to offenders landing in the excise net,” the officer added.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Neha Khan | 
