R.1 Short title, application and commencement

       (1) These rules may be called the Madhya Pradesh Foreign Liquor Rules, 1996.
       (2) They shall apply to import, export, transport, sale, manufacture, compounding, blending, bottling, possession, etc., of foreign liquor including registration of labels pasted on the bottles or containers.
       (3) These rules shall come into force with effect from first April, 1996.
1. Omitted by Notification No. (4) B-1-35-2002-CTD-V, dated 2-3-2002.

R.2 Definitions

       In these rules unless the context otherwise requires,--
       (1) "Authorised Excise Officer" means the excise officer authorised by the Excise Commissioner of Madhya Pradesh;
       (2) "Club" means a society of persons associated together for a social intercourse or for any related purpose except acquisition of gain and registered under any enactment relating to registration of societies;
       2[(2-A) "Commercial Club" means the club run for the acquisition of gains or for commercial purpose by a company, firm, an association of persons or any other concern.]
       (3) "Compounding" means the preparation of foreign liquor by the addition of flavouring or colouring agent or both, to spirit;
       (4) "Permit" means a permit issued un

R.3 Grant of licence for manufacture and bottling of foreign liquor

       (1) A person intending to construct and run a manufactory or bottlery shall make an application to the State Government through the Excise Commissioner, notifying his scheme and giving all relevant details.
       (2) An application made under sub-rule (1) shall be accompanied by a challan in token of payment of prescribed fee deposited into the treasury.
       (3) The State Government may, if satisfied about the bonafides of the proposed scheme of the applicant, accord sanction and issued a 'Letter of Intent' which shall be valid for one year from the date of communication, unless its validity is extended beyond one year.
       (4) The 'Letter of Intent' communicated under sub-rule (3) shall not confer any right or privilege for grant of a licence and is liable to be revoked or withdrawn at any time in public i

R.4 Manufacture and bottling of foreign liquor under franchise arrangement

A licensee, who holds a licence in Form FL 9-A, shall before he begins manufacturing and bottling of any brand of foreign liquor under a franchise agreement with original manufacturer or owner of such brand outside Madhya Pradesh, furnish a copy of such franchise agreement with the original manufacturer or owner, alongwith all relevant details. Similarly, if a franchise agreement made with the original manufacturer or owner of a brand is validly terminated by the franchiser or the franchisee, the franchisee shall forthwith report the fact of such termination to the Excise Commissioner and stop manufacture of the brand concerned under the franchise agreement.

R.5 Procurement of spirit and storage thereof

       (1) A licensee holding a licence in Form FL 9 or FL 9-A shall procure spirit for the preparation of foreign liquor by transporting it in accordance with the procedure laid down in Rule 14 and Rule 15(2). He may however, be permitted by the Excise Commissioner in special circumstances to import spirit in accordance with the procedure laid down in Rule 10 and Rule 15(1).
       (2) All spirit vats and vessels shall be of such quality, size, shape and material as approved by the Excise Commissioner. They shall be properly gauged and their gauging table shall be prepared by the Authorised Excise Officer. The licensee shall provide calibrated gauging rods etc. and assist in gauging of the aforesaid vats and vessels. Use of ungauged vats and vessels shall be totally prohibited.
       (3) Each vat or vessel shall have legibly painted on it in English or in

R.6 Quality control

       (1) All spirit used in the manufacture of foreign liquor shall be of such standard and quality as may be prescribed or approved by the Excise Commissioner.
       (2) All the containers for storing, blending, reducing, maturing and compounding the spirit shall be kept clean. Water used shall be pure and potable. No ingredient noxious to health shall be added to the spirit stored. The colouring, flavouring, essencing, aromatic agents etc. used for compounding the spirit, shall be of good quality, fit for human consumption and not deleterious to health.
       (3) The licensee shall have to establish his own laboratory within the licensed premises. Such a laboratory shall be well equipped, manned by qualified technical personnel and the expenditure incurred on it shall be borne by the licensee. Sample of every batch of foreign liquor manufactured and re

R.7 Bottling of foreign liquor

       (1) All operations relating to the filing of bottles with foreign liquor shall be conducted under the supervision of the officer-in-charge. Bottled foreign liquor shall be stored in a separate room or rooms called the 'store for bottled liquor', which shall be secured with a revenue lock. In the bottling room, bottling vats may be kept or erected and foreign liquor manufactured may be stored therein. All spirit vats must be secured with revenue locks.
       (2) Foreign liquor manufactured and bottled will be of such strength as specified by the Excise Commissioner from time to time. However, for bottled foreign liquor, a deviation margin upto 1 degree, from the proof strength declared on the label glued to it, will be permitted.
       (3) Every bottle of foreign liquor shall be properly capped and sealed before being transferred to the store.
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R.8 Sale of foreign liquor

       (1) Categories of licences.--Licences for the sale of foreign liquor shall be of the following categories and the mode of grant of these licences shall be as indicated hereunder :--
       7[(a) F.L. 1 (Licence for retail sale of foreign liquor in sealed bottles, not to be consumed on the premises).--
       The licence in Form F.L. 1 shall be granted individually on fixed basic licence fee and licence fee, by inviting applications for each shop, and if the number of applications are more than one then by disposing of applications by draw of lottery or in such other manner as the State Government may direct from time to time. The F.L. 1 licensee shall sell foreign liquor in sealed bottles to consumers and to F.L. 3, F.L. 4, F.L. 4-A and F.L. 5 licensees :
       Provided that if no application is received, then th

R.9 Registration of labels

       (1) No foreign liquor shall be transported within, imported into, exported from and sold within Madhya Pradesh, unless the following legends and details are printed on the labels pasted to the bottles of foreign liquor :--
       (a) "Consumption of liquor is injurious to health".
       (b) "For sale in Madhya Pradesh only" or "Duty not paid in Madhya Pradesh" as the case may be.
       (c) Batch No., Month and year of manufacture.
       (d) Name and place of distillery, manufactory or bottlery.
       (e) Alcoholic contents and proof strength. (f) Brand with contents.
       (g) Registration No. of the brand/label. 17[(h) Minimum selling price as directed by the Excise Commissioner.]
  

R.10 Import of foreign liquor

       (1) No foreign liquor shall be imported into Madhya Pradesh without prepayment of duty except under and in accordance with no objection certificate and/or a permit to be obtained or issued as described below :--
       (a) No-objection certificate for the import of foreign liquor may be granted to FL 6 and 24[FL-10-A] licensees on prepayment of import fee at the prescribed rate. No-objection certificate shall be in Form FL 21.
       (b) Import of only those labels of foreign liquor shall be permitted which are registered with the Excise Commissioner under Rule 9.
       (c) Excise Commissioner or an officer authorised by him may permit any licensee, to import foreign liquor imported from outside India, subject to prepayment of the prescribed import fee and bottle fee. An FL 9 or FL 9-A licensee may be permitted b

R.11 Intimation of arrival of the consignment

       (1) As soon as the consignment of foreign liquor covered by the no-objection certificate and permit reaches the licensed premises, the consignee shall immediately inform the District Excise Officer in writing.
       (2) On receipt of such intimation, the District Excise Officer shall depute an Excise Officer, not below the rank of sub-Inspector, for verification of the consignment. The Excise Officer, thus deputed, shall carry out the verification, make necessary entries in the permit issued by the exporting State and enter the details of the quantity received in the records and registers maintained by the licensee. He shall prepare and send a verification report to the District Excise Officer who in turn shall mail it to the authority who issued the export permit.
       (3) The verification must be completed within 24 hours of such intimation in wr

R.12 Export of foreign liquor

       (1) Export of only those labels of foreign liquor shall be permitted which are registered with the Excise Commissioner under Rule 9.
       (2) Only FL 9 or FL 9-A licensee shall be permitted to export.
       (3) The exporter shall pay the prescribed export-fee in advance in the treasury of his district.
       (4) The exporter shall also deposit the prescribed duty leviable on the full quantity of foreign liquor to be exported, or furnish a bank guarantee for an equal amount from a local branch of a nationalised bank or execute a bond with adequate solvent sureties for the amount in Form FL 23. After the receipt of the verification report in respect of the-despatched consignment from the officer-in-charge of the importing unit, further consignment of foreign liquor involving the same or lesser amount of duty may

R.13 Securing the verification report

       The exporter shall obtain a verification report from the officer-in-charge of the importing unit and furnish it to the authority who issued the export permit within 21 days of the expiry of period of permit. If the exporter fails to do so, the leviable duty on the foreign liquor exported shall be recover from deposits made, bank guarantee furnished or the security bond executed in accordance with sub-rule (4) of Rule 12. This shall be in addition to any other penalty which may be imposed under Rule 19.
       In case the foreign liquor is exported to another country, the licensee exporting the liquor shall furnish documentary evidence that the consignment has actually left the country.

R.14 Procedure for the transport of foreign liquor, E.N.A. etc

       (1) Transport by an F.L. 9, F.L. 9A, F.L. 10A, B-1-A licensee to 'Foreign Liquor Warehouse'.
       Only an F.L. 9, F.L. 9A, F.L. 10A or B-1-A licensee shall transport foreign liquor to a 'Foreign Liquor Warehouse' for storage thereat. For this purpose, the licensee shall deposit transport fee in his district and obtain a No Objection Certificate in Form F.L. 12 from the officer in charge 'Foreign Liquor Warehouse'. No Objection Certificate in Form F.L. 12 shall be invariably obtained even if the licensed premises of the licensee transporting foreign liquor and 'Foreign Liquor Warehouse' are located at the same headquarters or in the same city or district. Transport permit in F.L. 14 for the quantity mentioned in the No Objection Certificate in Form 12 shall be issued by the Officer in charge of F.L. 9, F.L. 9A, F.L. 10A or B-1A licence.
       (2) Tr

R.15 Procurement of spirit/E.N.A. for the manufacture of foreign liquor

       (1) (a) Import of spirit or ENA for the manufacture of foreign liquor without payment of duty by an FL 9 or FL 9-A licensee may be permitted by the Excise Commissioner.
       (b) Every application for the issue of a no-objection certificate for the import of spirit or ENA shall be accompanied by a challan in token of depositing import fee at the prescribed rate in the importing district.
       (c) The procedure laid down in clauses (d), (e), (f) and (g) of sub-rule (1) of Rule 10 shall be followed while issuing no-objection certificate.
       (d) No-objection certificate for the import of spirit or ENA for this purpose shall be in Form FL 20.
       (2) (a) Transport of spirit or ENA from a D-1 licensee by an FL 9 or FL 9-A licensee for the manufacturer of foreign l

R.16 Permissible limits of losses

       (1) An allowance shall be made for the actual loss of spirit by leakage, evaporation etc., and of bottled foreign liquor by breakage caused by loading, unloading, handling etc. in transit, at the rate mentioned hereinafter. The total quantity of bottled foreign liquor transported or exported shall be the basis for computation of permissible losses.
       (2) Wastage allowances on the spirit transported to the premises of FL 9 or FL 9-A licensee shall be the same as given in sub-rule (4) of Rule 6 of the Distillery Rules, 1995.
       (3) Maximum wastage allowance for all exports of bottled foreign liquor shall be 0.25% irrespective of distance.
       (4) Maximum wastage allowance for all transports of bottled foreign liquor shall be 0.1% if the selling licensee and the purchasing licensee belong to the same dist

R.17 Storage, racking, reduction losses

       (1) Maximum permissible limit of losses of spirit due to racking, storage, evaporation, reduction, blending etc., for FL 9 or FL 9-A licensee shall be the same as given in sub-rule (2) of Rule 6 of the Distillery Rules, 1995.
       (2) No wastage allowance on storage of bottled foreign liquor stocked with 24[FL 6 15[x x x] or FL 10-A] licensee is permitted. If during verification any deficiency is discovered, duty and bottle fee at the prescribed rate on the quantity found deficit shall be recoverable from the licensee in addition to any other penalty which may be imposed under Rule 19.
       15. Omitted by Notification No. (4) B-1-35-2002-CTD-V, dated 2-3-2002.
24. Substituted by Notification No. (27)-B-1-25-2000-CTD-V, dated 31-3-2000.

R.18 Miscellaneous

       (1) Transit of foreign liquor through Madhya Pradesh shall be subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be notified by the Excise Commissioner and such conditions and restrictions shall be binding on all such transit movements.
       (2) (a) Bottle fee per quart bottle both for the spirit and the malt liquor shall be payable at the rate fixed by the State Government from time to time. Different scales of bottle fee may be prescribed for different kinds or varieties of foreign liquor including that imported from outside the country.
       (b) The rate of bottle fee per magnum bottle shall be one and a half time the rate per quart bottle, the rate per pint bottle shall be half of the rate per quart bottle, and the rate per nip bottle shall be one fourth of the rate per quart bottle.
       Explanation

R.19 Penalties

       (1) Without prejudice to the provisions of the Act, or condition No. 4 of licence in Form FL 1, condition No. 7 of licence in Form FL 2, condition No. 4 of licence in Form FL 3, the Excise Commissioner or the Collector may impose a penalty not exceeding Rs. 50,000 for contravention of any of these rules or the provisions of the Act or any other rules made under the Act or the order issued by the Excise Commissioner.
       (2) On all deficiencies in excess of the limits allowed under sub-rule (2) of Rule 16 and sub-rule (1) of Rule 17, the FL 9 or FL 9-A licensee shall be liable to pay penalty at a rate not exceeding Rs. 25 per proof litre in case of spirit and Rs. 65 in case of foreign liquor excluding beer as may be imposed by the Excise Commissioner or any officer authorised by him :
       Provided that if it be proved to the satisfaction of the E

R.20 Taking security from-FL 2 and FL 3 licences

Every FL 2 and FL 3 licensee shall furnish cash security or bank guarantee for an amount fixed by the State Government or the Excise Commissioner for due compliance of licence conditions. In case any penalty is imposed on a licensee owing to infraction of any licence condition, the penalty thus imposed shall be paid by him forthwith and in case of default the amount of penalty shall be recovered from the cash security or the bank guarantee as aforesaid. In such an eventuality, the bank guarantee or the cash security shall be indemnified to that extent by the licensee within 7 days.

R.21 Repeals

       All rules corresponding to these rules in force immediately before the commencement of these rules are hereby repealed in respect of matters covered by these rules :
       Provided that any order made or action taken under the rules so repealed shall be deemed to have been made or taken under the corresponding provisions of these rules.