Alcoholic Beverage Industry Urges Telangana Government To Clear ₹3,700 Crore In Pending Dues Before Enforcing Early Payment Discount Scheme
Hyderabad – The leading associations of the alcoholic beverage sector, the Brewers Association of India (BAI), the International Spirits and Wines Association of India (ISWAI), and the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC), which collectively account for over 80% of the liquor, beer and wines sold in the country have written to the Government of Telangana raising their serious concern regarding the unilateral decision of the Telangana Government to start paying for supply of alcoholic beverages after 15 days upon a deduction of 2% Cash discount.
The Government of Telangana has started a new payment mechanism with effect from 1st June 2026, under which payments for alcoholic beverage supplied to Telangana State beverage Corporation (TGBCL) in the month of May 26 have been made after 15 days upon deduction of an early payment cash discount of 2- 2.75%.
The associations point out that while the cash discount is a part of the tender conditions, it is intended to be exercised at the request of suppliers, not the buyer i.e. the Government and is against the standard accounting practices, as the Government has begun making payments for recent dues, while the old undisputed dues of over ₹3,700 crore for the period from December 2025 to April 2026 remain outstanding. The Associations maintain that settling newer dues before clearing older ones defies established commercial norms and could expose companies to serious scrutiny from auditors. The Associations are also concerned that the Government may divert its monthly payouts towards clearing new dues in order to earn the cash discount, while older outstandings continue to remain unpaid. Over time, this could result in legitimate receivables turning into bad debt, creating massive financial burden and risk for the industry.
In their joint letter to the Government of Telangana, the three Associations say “ we would like to bring to your notice that, as per our records, as on date, payments have been cleared for sale up to 01st week of December, 2025, and pending payments for the period 01st week of December to 01st week of April 2026, to the tune of INR 3725.73cr is still pending. In light of the above, we find the proposed action by the Government to start deducting early payment on current supplies very disturbing and against the principles of normal commercial transactions, and is fraught with non-compliance accounting standards, and subject to scrutiny by auditors.”
The alcoholic beverage industry has instead urged the Government to release payments in chronological order and clear the old outstanding immediately. “We urge you to kindly release payments on the basis of chronological order, and not implement any such proposals as may have been contemplated” says their joint letter. However, it appears that the Government has decided to proceed with it’s unilateral and arbitrary decision, seemingly driven by financial needs and the belief that it has the power to carry out any action because of it’s dominant position”.
