Noida:
Delhi Metro commuters landing in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida with sealed liquor bottles may land in trouble, cautioned excise officials here on Saturday.
The word of caution comes a day after the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) announced permitting commuters to carry up to two sealed bottles of liquor on its network.
Besides Delhi, DMRC’s metro rail network expands to nearby cities like Gurgaon and Faridabad in Haryana, and Noida and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh.
In Uttar Pradesh, the excise rules ban the import of liquor from outside the state, citing loss to the state government’s revenue.
Officials said the current rule permits import of only one unsealed bottle from adjoining Delhi or Haryana, whether by metro or road.
“Although the Delhi Metro has allowed commuters to carry two sealed bottles of liquor, but rules of the Uttar Pradesh Excise Department will apply in UP’s territories, irrespective of any changes in Delhi,” Noida District Excise Officer Subodh Srivastava told PTI.
The officer added that the excise department will step up vigilance at metro stations and take legal action against those caught with sealed liquor bottles brought from outside UP.
“We will also try to raise awareness among people about the excise rules in UP to avoid inconvenience to the commuters,” Srivastava said.
Liquor is usually cheaper in Haryana and Delhi as compared to Uttar Pradesh. On several occasions in the past, people bringing sealed liquor bottles from Delhi to Noida via road have been arrested. An official said in such a situation, action against an offender is taken under Section 63 of the Excise Act (penalty for unlawful import, export, transport, manufacture, possession, sale) which is a non-bailable offence.
Carrying of alcohol was banned in the Delhi Metro until recently except on the Airport Express Line and allowing it across the network is a part of the policy to bring in uniformity, the DMRC said on Friday.
According to the Delhi Metro, a committee comprising officials from the CISF and the DMRC reviewed the list of items allowed to be carried in trains.
However, the metro operator has requested passengers to maintain proper decorum while travelling and warned that any commuter found behaving in an indecent manner under the influence of alcohol, will face suitable action as per law.
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