AP Excise team studies Telangana’s digital liquor policy framework

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Prohibition and Excise Department has turned its attention to Telangana’s digital payment ecosystem for liquor retail outlets as it prepares to introduce a new excise policy.

A team of AP Excise officials visited the Telangana Prohibition and Excise Commissioner’s office on Thursday to study how digital transactions are integrated into retail operations and monitored in real time.

The delegation sought details about the software platforms used, the payment reconciliation process, and the digital tools adopted by Telangana to ensure transparency and efficiency in liquor sales.

AP officials meet Telangana Excise leadership

The visiting team interacted with Telangana Excise officials, including Additional Commissioner Syed Yaseen Qureshi, Joint Commissioner Suresh Rathod, and Assistant Commissioner Srinivas, at the Commissioner’s office in Hyderabad.

Guntur Deputy Commissioner (Excise) Dr K Srinivas and Palnadu DPEO Manikantha were part of the Andhra Pradesh delegation. They discussed how Telangana’s excise department regulates retail outlets and leverages technology to monitor daily sales and payments.

Telangana’s digital model draws attention

During the interaction, Telangana’s Additional Commissioner Qureshi briefed the team on the state’s digitised framework for retail liquor transactions, which has significantly reduced manual intervention, improved accuracy in revenue reporting and curbed irregularities.

He also explained how digital payment systems are synchronised with excise monitoring software to provide real-time visibility into sales and collections across all licensed outlets.

Part of a wider comparative exercise

The officials said that Andhra Pradesh Prohibition and Excise Commissioner Sridhar Cherukuri has dispatched multiple teams to study successful liquor policies across several states — including Telangana, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

The objective is to identify best practices that can be adapted to frame a transparent, technology-driven liquor policy for Andhra Pradesh.

A push towards efficiency and transparency

With this exercise, the Andhra Pradesh government aims to strengthen its excise administration, improve revenue management, and introduce a modern, technology-based system that minimises human errors and promotes accountability — taking cues from Telangana’s proven digital model, the officials said.