Section 374 in Rules under the United Provinces Excise Act, 1910
374. General rules for conducting sales.
- The following general rules for conducting excise sales are to be followed :(1)The statement shall ordinarily be held at the district headquarters. In special cases the Collector may, with the previous sanction of the Excise Commissioner, authorise a Sub-divisional Officer to make the settlement of his sub-division, or of a specified portion thereof, at the headquarters of the sub-division or in the neighbourhood to which the contracts to be settled relate.(2)The sales shall be held by the Collector or by the District Excise Officer under his superintendence. The sales should be attached by the Excise Inspector sor Preventive duty, and if the Collector consider it necessary by Tahsildars in the district with the object of assisting the officer conducting the sales in securing adequate bids, in defeating combinations, and in eliminating bidders of unsatisfactory character or doubtful solvency.(3)The Assistant Excise Commissioner of the charge shall invariably be invited to attend the sales and the officer presiding at the sales shall consult and seek the advice of the Assistant Excise Commissioner in all matters relating to the general conduct of auctions, acceptance of bids and settlements of shop.(4)Before the sales for the day commence the general conditions governing the sale (paragraph 373) shall be read out and explained to all present, so that the competitors may clearly understand the conditions on which they bid. The general conditions governing retail vends and the special conditions governing each class of licence shall also be read out in public before the sales to which they apply. Information should be freely given in all matters effecting the value of contracts about to be sold.When licences under Section 24 of the Act for this exclusive privilege of selling tari are put up to auction, a list of the shops permitted under such licences should be publicly announced at the sale.(5)A settlement record (in Form G-14) of all licences to be sold under each branch of excise shall be prepared before the date fixed for the sale.(6)(i)The officer conducting the sales shall record the name of each person making a bid and the amount of bid.(ii)Signature of the highest bidder and the next two lower bidders shall also be taken on the bid sheet, whether such persons have been accepted as auction-purchasers or not.At the time of the sale the person accepted as the auction-purchaser shall be required to sign his name or affix his mark against the relevant entry of the licence in Record G-14, it being explained at the time that the deposit paid in advance will be returned in the event of the licence being subsequently refused. The final bid accepted shall invariably be recorded with his own hand by the officer conducting the sales.(7)The treasurer of the district, or one of his recognised assistants, shall be required to attend the sales to receive the advance fees paid by bidders provisionally accepted. All sums received by the treasurer or his assistant up to 2 p.m. must be credited in that day's account and the amounts paid subsequently on the same day should be kept in sealed bags in the treasury and brought to account next day. At the close of each day's sales the District Excise Officer shall satisfy himself, in personal communication with the Treasury Officer, that the remittances to, and the receipts in the treasury on account of that day agree. A person whose bid has been provisionally accepted by the Collector shall be granted a receipt in Form G-19.(8)When advance deposits are provisionally received from two or more rival bidders, or when they are received in cases requiring further consideration or reference to higher authority, such advances should be held in revenue deposit and not finally credited to Government. When a final decision is arrived at, the amounts so held in deposit should be at once credited or refunded, as the case may be. The officer conducting the sale should intimate to the Treasury Officer the names of the depositors, and the amount of their advance payments which are to be held in deposit under this paragraph.(9)All advance deposits are payable on the fall of the hammer, or, at latest, immediately on conclusion of the sales for the day. The deposit shall ordinarily be in cash, but Collectors may accept Government promissory notes and (with the sanction of the Excise Commissioner) valuable securities of a similar class.(10)If any person whose bid has been accepted at auction fails to make the advance deposit or if he withdraws from the bid, the Collector may sell the contract immediately or on any subsequent date fixed by him.The defaulting purchaser shall be debarred from bidding for the same or any other licence, within a period of one year from the date of default and may, with the prior sanction of the Collector be prosecuted under Section 185 of the Indian Penal Code, but in every case the defaulter shall be called upon to show cause why he should not be prosecuted for the said offence, before he is actually prosecuted thereunder.(11)Each licence should ordinarily be put up to separate competition.As a rule bids should not be taken in amounts smaller than multiples of Rs. 50 to Rs. 100; in multiples of Rs. 10 from Rs. 100 to 300; in multiples of Rs. 25 from Rs. 300 to Rs. 500; in multiples of Rs. 50 from Rs. 500 to Rs. 1,000 and in multiples of Rs. 100 from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 2,000. All bids above Rs. 2,000 should be in even sums of Rs. 200. Where no reason to the contrary exists, the highest bid, if adequate, should be accepted. But this provision is subject to two important considerations. Firstly, care should be taken to exclude bids obviously in excess of fair market-value of the licence or farm or which are the result of speculation or rivalry. The acceptance of such bids, even if the bidders fulfil their engagements, is immediately injurious to the interest of the consumer, and ultimately to the excise revenue. This precaution is particularly necessary in the case of farming contracts which are worked by means of sub-settlement made by the farmer. Secondly, it is necessary to guard against the acceptance of bids which may have the effect of consisting an overt or covert monopoly, and against the acceptance as licence-holders of undesirable person or persons of doubtful solvency. No person whose name appears ,upon the district or State defaulter's list should be allowed to bid.(12)When, after due weight has been given to the foregoing considerations, a bid has been finally or provisionally accepted at an auction, no subsequent offers in respect of the same engagement should be considered. The practice of nominally accepting a bid made at auction and then negotiating privately with other competitors for higher offers is legally indefensible, and in all respects objectionable. If an adequate price is offered by the highest suitable bidder, it should be accepted, otherwise the lot should be withdrawn for re-sale at a subsequent date or for settlement by tender. Competitors must be given to understand that when a bid is once accepted the matter cannot be reopened, and that they must be prepared to go to the full extent they propose to offer before the close of the auction.(13)A list of all sanctioned shops, of which it has not been found possible to effect settlement, should be submitted in Form G-33 for orders to the Excise Commissioner by April 1, each year, with a brief statement of the auction proposed in each case.
