September 18, 2025

Bengaluru’s excise department has hit the pause button on the much-talked-about auction of defunct liquor licences. Initially set to happen soon, the event is now pushed back tentatively to late October. Why the sudden delay? Excise minister RB Timmapur called it off as industry objections flooded in like a monsoon torrent. The big issue is that the excise rules need serious changes before the licences can go under the hammer. Recently, many stakeholders met Karnataka’s chief minister Siddaramaiah and asked him to halt the auction process. The Federation of Wine Merchants' Associations of Karnataka slammed the current list of licences, calling it “far too frothy.” They argue that many licences were already swallowed by the state-run Mysore Sales International Limited (MSIL) back in 2009. An official from the excise department stated, “Industry stakeholders can file objections after amendments are notified.” This signals that rule changes are expected to come even before the next legislature session. Meanwhile, MSIL stayed mum. Its officials said they “cannot question govt decisions,” keeping quiet during the escalating debate. For the Karnataka Wine Merchants’ Association, the deal is far from ready. General secretary Honnagiri Gowda said, “Several licencees have gone to court and their cases are pending.” He also reminded everyone that “industry bodies have repeatedly appealed to the govt not to auction the licences.” According to him, “Existing vendors are already incurring losses.” To understand the background: Karnataka has handed out about 13,000 liquor licences across many categories. But no new licences have been issued since 1992! This has forced the old licences to be transferred, renewed, or leased at heavy prices – making licence trading a hot business. An excise official noted, “The department always faces requests to issue new licences, but it is for the govt to decide.” Adding fuel to the fire, B Govindraj Hegde, general secretary of the Federation of Karnataka Wine Merchants' Association, insisted that “there are no licences to be auctioned.” He explained, “Those given to MSIL were not under the quota system but through a special rule for govt-run liquor stores.” He further said, “Since licence quotas are formulated based on population, there is no way to revise them since there is no population data after 2011.” So, amid rule changes, protests, and pending court battles, the auction is now stewing on the back burner until late October. Will the excise department get its recipe right then? Only time will tell!

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Tags: Excise department, Liquor licences, Auction delay, Karnataka government, Msil, Wine merchants,