New Delhi, March 26 The Delhi government's excise department has mandated fresh brand registration and revalidation of stock-keeping units by liquor wholesalers, ahead of the new financial year starting April 1.
In a circular issued to L-I licensees (wholesalers), the excise department has said that all existing stock-keeping units (SKUs) will automatically expire on March 31 midnight, and no licensee will be able to conduct trade using old SKUs unless the validity is extended.
According to the department's standard operating procedure, the L1 licensees must complete brand registration on the eAbkari portal, which will automatically extend the validity of the old SKUs.
However, it states that key operations such as import permit (IP) placement and barcode generation will not be allowed for old SKUs. These activities will be permitted only for newly registered products with fresh SKU IDs.
An SKU refers to a unique, alphanumeric code assigned to products by retailers to track inventory and sales, as well as registration and tracking within the excise supply chain. It involves barcoding for validating individual liquor items.
New SKUs will be assigned fresh GTIN sequences at the case level, while GTINs at the bottle level will continue from the last sequence of the previous excise year for the same product.
The L1 licensees will be required to register their brands on the eAbkari portal for the new excise year. The registration and approval of brands will be carried out through the eAbkari system, the circular said.
Once a brand is approved for the same licensee in the new excise year, the system will automatically extend the validity of the corresponding old SKUs associated with that brand, it said.
The GTIN associated with old SKUs will remain valid in the new excise year for the purpose of handling existing stock, it added.
The department has said that all licensees must strictly adhere to the guidelines to ensure a smooth transition into the new excise year and to maintain proper traceability within the eAbkari system.
Non-compliance may lead to operational restrictions or regulatory action, it warned.