Liquor shops in UP to be allotted via e-lottery

The Uttar Pradesh cabinet on Wednesday approved the new excise policy for 2025-26, introducing an e-lottery system for liquor shop allotment across the state.

According to reports, the policy states that one person can submit only one application with a prescribed non-refundable security and will be restricted to a maximum of two shop allocations. The National Informatics Centre (NIC) will conduct the e-lottery in all districts and the selected names will be sent to Lucknow for allotment.

Additionally, the state has increased the licence fee by 10 percent, with application fees ranging from ₹40,000 to ₹1 lakh, depending on the shop category. The new policy also eliminates the quota system for liquor shops, which previously mandated fixed stock requirements.