It is the responsibility of the licensees to ensure that the liquor sold is genuine and sourced exclusively from APSBCL warehouses. File | Photo credit: V. RAJU
The Andhra Pradesh government has ordered a system of daily authentication to verify the authenticity of every bottle of liquor sold in the state and to check fake liquor.
In GO MS. No. 376, issued on October 15, 2025, the government ordered the implementation of a system in retail stores / bars / in-house facilities using a QR code on each bottle before sale and established liability for lapses resulting in the sale of fake or unverified liquor.
Quality
Emphasis was placed on implementing monitoring systems across all outlets to oversee day-to-day transactions and ensure that only liquor supplied by AP State Beverages Corporation Limited (APSBCL) was sold by licensed establishments and quality was maintained.
In this regard, the GO said that the production and circulation of unauthenticated and illegally prepared liquor in some places has been brought to the notice of the government and this substandard quality liquor poses a serious threat to public health.
To prevent recurrence of such activity, the Director of Excise and Prohibition has proposed a mechanism to verify the authenticity of liquor bottles before sale, including checking the integrity of the seal, the condition of the cap and the authenticity of the hologram, mandatory scanning of the QR code printed on each bottle using the official application “AP Excise Suraksha App” and entering the results into the Register of Genuine Daily Liquor. record mark, batch number, QR verification timestamp and status.
Real time data
The application retrieves real-time data from the Excise ERP system and displays the entered result. Prohibition and Excise officials have been mandated to carry out daily spot testing of holograms of bottles available in shops / bars / in-house facilities by scanning the QR code to verify the authenticity of the product and record its details in the DLGVR.
The onus was placed on the licensee to ensure that all liquor sold was genuine and procured exclusively from APSBCL warehouses.
“AP Excise Suraksha App” has been provided to the general public to check the authenticity of the liquor and lodge complaints at the 24/7 Excise Control Center / WhatsApp Helpline Number.
Zero tolerance
The Central Committee said that the government is following a zero tolerance policy towards the manufacture and circulation of adulterated / spurious / duty free or any spirits deviating from the verified excise supply chain.
As protection of public health and integrity of excise administration were of paramount importance, a system of daily authentication was introduced to achieve the desired objectives, the GO said.
Published – 16 Oct 2025 19:12 IST
