Haryana Passes Bill To Lower Minimum Drinking Age From 25 To 21 Years
Mumbai: The Haryana government has amended its Excise Act, paving way for lowering the legal age for consumption of liquor, its purchase or sale from 25 years to 21 years. The bill was passed to further amend the Haryana Excise (Amendment) Act, 2021.
Under Section 27 of the Act, a person below the age of 25 was not granted a lease by the State Government in the past for the manufacture, wholesale and retail sale of any country liquor or intoxicants. This minimum age has now been reduced to 21.
According to section 29 of the Act, liquor/any intoxicant can be sold by the seller/employee of such vendor to a person below 21 years of age. Under section 30, a person who is at least 21 years of age or above can now be employed by a person licensed to sell any kind of liquor/narcotic.
Further, section 62 now provides that if any licensed seller or his employee or any person acting on his behalf sells or distributes any liquor or drug to any person under the age of 21 years, he shall also be in addition to other penalties, shall be punishable with a fine which may extend to Rs 50,000.
“At the time of framing the Excise Policy for the year 2021-22, it was discussed that the above age limit may be reduced from twenty-five years to twenty-one years, as many of other States have prescribed lower age limits. The National Capital Territory of Delhi has also recently reduced this age limit to twenty-one years. Moreover, the socio-economic conditions of the day have changed drastically from the time when the above provisions were incorporated in the Excise Act. The people now are more educated and participating in new endeavours and also can take rational decisions when it comes to responsible drinking,” said the release from the government.
Accordingly, The Haryana Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2021 has been passed to reduce the minimum age limit of twenty-five years as provided in sections 27, 29, 30 and 62 of the Haryana Excise Act, 1914 to twenty-one years
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