App by Excise department to ensure foolproof check on sale of counterfeit and illicit liquor
Initiative will save consumers health and create check on evasion of excise duty
Chandigarh, December 23
Tightening noose around liquor mafia in the state, Punjab Finance, Planning, Excise and Taxation Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema on Friday launched mobile based ‘Excise QR Code Label Verification Citizen App’ as a part of Track and Trace project being implemented by the department of Excise.
Launching this Citizen centric app at the Excise and Taxation Bhawan, Harpal Singh Cheema said that this QR Code base mobile App is a step further in the direction of ensuring that no in-genuine, counterfeit or no duty paid liquor could be sold in the state of Punjab. He said that this initiative would help in saving consumers health besides creating another check on evasion of excise duty. The minister also launched a 24X7 helpline number 9875961126 and appealed the general public to support the initiatives of the state government against illicit liquor trade by reporting any of such activities on this helpline.
Highlighting the features available on this App, Advocate Cheema said that the consumers can now check the genuineness of the liquor bottled purchased by them by scanning the Q.R. Code affixed on liquor bottle using this mobile app. He said that the consumer would be able to know the bottle label code, Distiller/ Bottlers name, name of the brand, quantity of the pack, strength of the alcohol and date of the manufacturing just by scanning the QR code pasted on every bottle of liquor being sold across the state. “This mobile app can be downloaded and installed on any of the android as well as iOS operated mobile phones. The mobile app is available for download free of cost from Google play store and Apple store,” said Cheema.
Advocate Cheema further added that this App has been integrated with the Track and Trace project, thus, the consumers can report any irregularity directly to the Excise department using this facility. He said that through ‘Track and Trace’ Project the department can track and trace the liquor across the whole liquor supply chain in the state. This enables not only the Excise Department but also the other stakeholders of liquor business in monitoring the entire supply chain, he added.
Meanwhile, the Excise Commissioner Varun Roojam apprised the Minister that under the Track and Trace project of the Excise Department, it has been ensured that every bottle sold in the state has a QR code sticker so that any customer can get immediate information about the bottle of liquor purchased.
