Allow just 1 sealed liquor bottle in Metro: Delhi govt's excise dept

NEW DELHI: Delhi government's excise department, in a letter to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, has said that the decision by DMRC to allow commuters to carry two sealed bottles of liquor in its network was in contravention of the law.
Following widespread demand, the DMRC had last month had said that a commuter can carry two sealed bottles of alcohol on its network.
The excise department pointed out in the letter that cities in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, which are covered by the DMRC's network, have different excise rules from Delhi's.
Under the Delhi Excise Act, only one sealed bottle of liquor can be brought from the neighbouring state. The Uttar Pradesh government allows one unsealed bottle. Haryana has fixed the limit to 1 litre.
"Metro trains ferry commuters between Delhi and the NCR towns of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad. We can't keep a check on persons carrying two sealed bottles - from which town they boarded the train and where they deboarded," an excise official said.
He added that liquor cannot be sold to any person less than 25 years of age in Delhi. However, in Gurgaon, it can be sold to anyone of 18 years of age. "The relaxation by Delhi Metro means any person younger than 25 years can bring liquor from other places through Metro trains and consume it in Delhi. That's why we have sent a notice to DMRC to change the allowance of carrying two bottles of liquor to one so that it does not violate any provision of the Excise Act," he said.
The DMRC said the decision on what items are permitted on its trains was based upon permissibility by the agency, which is in charge of security. "The concern of the excise department will be conveyed to the security agency," a DMRC spokesperson said.
Earlier, carrying of alcohol was banned in the Delhi metro, except for the Airport Express Line.