The Excise Department has extended by two weeks the last date for the submission of the second instalment of the licence fee by hotels, clubs and restaurants in the wake of disruption caused by a technical glitch in its multipurpose ESCIMS portal, officials said on Tuesday.

The Excise Supply Chain Information Management System (ESCIMS) portal serves as the platform for placing orders for liquor stock as well as fulfilling various formalities and documentation by the licensees of hotels, clubs and restaurants(HCR) licensees serving liquor.

“The portal was lying defunct for most days in September leading to a shortage of liquor stock at Government corporation-run liquor stores as well as the hotels, clubs and restaurants,” officials said.

“This also resulted in a significant drop in the sales and revenue to the excise department,” they said.

Restro bar operators and hoteliers had earlier complained that due to the non-functioning of the portal, they were unable to place orders for liquor and deposit the second instalment of the licence fee for which the last date was September 30, 2024.

The portal after being down for around three weeks finally resumed normal function from Sunday. The Excise department in an order extended the last date for licence fee installment submission till October 14, 2024.

The malfunctioning portal cost a loss of over ₹300 crore to the department as the average monthly revenue around ₹750 crore dropped to ₹400 crore in September, sources in the department claimed.

The daily sales dipped from an average of around eight lakh bottles to nearly five lakh bottles in the month, they said.

The HCR licensees confirmed that they were now able to place orders for liquor and generate the transit passes for the transportation of the stock.

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