Noida: Even as the Planning Commission has been mooting standardised liquor prices across the country, the delay in implementation of a uniform price list for liquor is buring a hole in the pockets of the consumers. In the absence of a uniform price regime, customers have to pay different prices for the same product at different locations. The trend of absurd prices is particularly prevalent in Delhi and Noida.

Sample this. For a 750 ml Kingfisher Beer bottle in Noida, you pay Rs 60 while the same bottle costs Rs 45 at a liquor shop in the nearby Anand Vihar in Delhi. Similarly, a 750 ml bottle of Royal Challenge Whisky costs Rs 540, Old Monk Rum Rs 245 and Smirnoff Vodka Rs 540 in Noida but as soon as you enter Delhi the prices come down by 20 to 30 per cent.

 Rajendra, a liquor seller in Noida says, "Due to the price differences we incur heavy losses. Hardly a km away in Delhi, there are shops, which offer cheap liquor due to the lesser tax."

Inderjeet Chadda, a Noida resident said, "If we go by quality there is hardly any difference so whenever we have any requirement we prefer going to Delhi. It's cheap and it's near."

Most states levy multiple taxes on liquor, which is an important source of revenue. Earlier, the Planning Commission recommended that liquor across the country should cost the same. The policy, which requires the agreement of states, recommended streamlining taxes on liquor and suggested that duties be levied purely on the value of the liquor as opposed to the current tax regime, which levies a mix of ad valorem and specific duties.
 
Since the states are not ready to part with the income source, nothing has materialised as yet.