Delhi and Maharashtra both issue a liquor licence to restaurants, and almost nothing else about the two systems matches.
Four differences decide what it costs you. Maharashtra publishes a beer-only licence and Delhi’s list has none. Delhi ties a hotel bar licence to the hotel’s room licence.
Delhi also prices the licence by how many seats you have. And the two states run entirely different form sets, so a code from one means nothing in the other.
None of this is a detail you can settle later. It changes the site you look for, the entity that applies, and the budget you set before signing a lease.
Key Takeaways
- Maharashtra grants beer-only and wine-only licences; Delhi’s published list has none
- A Delhi hotel bar licence is granted only alongside the hotel’s room licence
- Delhi’s restaurant licence fee scales with seat covers, published in an annual schedule
- Maharashtra publishes more than 40 licence forms; Delhi runs a numbered L-series
- A licence code from one state has no meaning in the other
Why Do Two States Run Completely Different Systems?
Alcohol sits on the State List of the Seventh Schedule, so each state writes its own liquor law and answers to nobody in Delhi about it.
Delhi licenses under the Delhi Excise Act 2009. Maharashtra works from the Maharashtra Prohibition Act 1949 and the rules under it.
That is why the vocabulary does not travel. An L-17 exists in Delhi and nowhere else. Maharashtra’s restaurant licence is FL-III, and the state publishes more than 40 forms in total.
The two even organise their codes differently. Delhi runs one flat numbered series, L-1 through L-53. Maharashtra groups its forms by what is being licensed, so FL covers foreign liquor, CL country liquor, M molasses and TD toddy.
A group opening in both cities applies twice, to two departments, on two calendars.
Which Licence Does a Restaurant Need in Each State?
The starting point is the same question in both states: are you a standalone restaurant, or are you inside a hotel?
| What you are | Delhi | Maharashtra |
|---|---|---|
| Standalone restaurant serving spirits | L-17 or L-18 | FL-III |
| Restaurant or bar inside a hotel | L-16, held with L-15 | FL-III |
| Beer only | None in the published list | Form E |
| Wine only | None in the published list | Form E-II |
| Club | L-28 or L-29 | FL-IV |
| One-off function | P-10 or P-13 | Temporary FL-IV |
Maharashtra’s excise department describes FL-III as a “Licence for sale at restaurant or hotel of imported and IMFL on which is Excise Duty has been paid”. One form covers both the standalone restaurant and the hotel restaurant.
Delhi splits that job in two, and the split has consequences.
Can You Start With Beer Only?
In Maharashtra, yes. In Delhi, there is no such category. This is the single biggest difference for a new outlet.
Maharashtra publishes Form E as a “Licence for sale of mild liquor (beer) on the premises of hotel /restaurant / canteen / club”. Form E-II covers wine on the same kinds of premises. Both are narrower than FL-III, so the conditions attached are lighter.
That gives a Mumbai or Pune cafe a real option. Open on beer, see whether alcohol earns its place on the menu, and apply for the full licence later if it does.
Delhi’s published licence list has no equivalent tier. Its 29 categories run from L-1 to L-53, and none of them is a beer-only or wine-only licence for a restaurant. An outlet that wants to serve anything applies for the full restaurant licence and pays the full fee.
Plan for that when you model a new site. A concept that works on a beer-led menu in Pune may not survive the same menu in Delhi once the licence cost is in the budget.
Who Can Hold a Hotel Bar Licence?
This is the one we see catch operators who lease space inside a hotel, and it is worth checking before you sign anything.
Delhi grants L-15 and L-16 to hotels holding star classification and approval from the Department of Tourism. L-15 covers service of liquor to residents in their rooms. L-16 covers a bar, or a restaurant and bar, inside the hotel.
The department states that L-16 is granted in conjunction with L-15 only. A restaurant operating inside a Delhi hotel cannot hold the bar licence in its own name. The licence sits with the hotel.
Maharashtra publishes it as one form. The FL-III description covers sale at a restaurant or hotel together, without the paired structure Delhi sets out.
So in Delhi the question is whose name the licence sits in, and what happens to your bar if the hotel’s classification lapses. Settle it in the lease, not after opening.
How Is the Licence Fee Worked Out?
Delhi publishes an annual fee schedule and prices the licence by seat covers. More seats, higher fee, regardless of how much you actually sell.
These are the totals Delhi published for the 2025-26 excise year, covering Indian and foreign liquor together.
| Seat covers | L-17 annual fee | L-18 annual fee |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 50 | ₹14,90,756 | ₹7,84,610 |
| Up to 100 | ₹21,18,444 | ₹10,98,453 |
| Up to 200 | ₹28,24,588 | ₹14,12,295 |
| Above 200 | ₹36,09,196 | ₹17,26,138 |
Source: Delhi Excise Department’s published fee schedule. These are the 2025-26 excise year figures, and the department revises the schedule annually, so confirm the current year’s rates with the department before you budget against them.
Two things follow from that table. The fee steps rather than slides, so a restaurant at 52 covers pays the same as one at 100. And the schedule is revised annually, so the number you budgeted in one year is not the number you renew at.
Maharashtra keeps this in separate rule sets, publishing rules for licence renewal and for privilege fees. It does not put a single seat-linked table on the page the way Delhi does, so check the applicable rules for your own fee basis.
That shapes the room itself in Delhi. An operator there has a reason to keep covers just under a threshold, because 52 seats and 100 seats cost the same. It is a design constraint created by a fee table, not by service.
What Does the Paperwork Actually Demand?
Delhi publishes its document list, and it reaches well past the excise department itself.
For L-15 and L-16 the department asks for:
- A completion certificate from MCD or DDA
- An approved site plan, plus a location plan of the bars and restaurant
- A separate liquor store location plan
- A lodging certificate from the DCP
- A health and trade licence from MCD or NDMC
- A fire NOC and proof of the applicant’s legal status
Read that as a sequence, not a pile. Several items come from other departments, and each has its own queue. The excise application is the last step, not the first.
That is the part owners underestimate. In the openings we see, the excise fee is the visible number and the municipal paperwork behind it is not. The licence rarely arrives when the fit-out does.
Maharashtra runs its own document set per form, which is why the online application route matters more than the form number when you work out how long this takes.
Either way the liquor licence is one of several restaurant licences an outlet needs before opening. A compliance checklist keeps the rest of them visible while this one is in the queue.
How Often Do You Renew, and What Changes?
Both states renew. What matters is not the date so much as what can move at renewal.
Delhi runs on the excise year, and its fee schedule is dated to it. The 2025-26 figures carry a stated 10% increase over 2024-25, so the fee is a live variable rather than a fixed cost you can model once.
Maharashtra keeps this in its own rule set, publishing separate rules for licence renewal and for privilege fees rather than folding them into an annual policy.
The practical difference is how far ahead you can plan. A Delhi operator budgets knowing the number may move at the next policy. A Maharashtra operator reads two rule sets instead, but is not waiting on an annual decision.
Neither resembles Gujarat, where prohibition makes the question one of permits rather than restaurant licences.
What If You Operate in Both States?
Treat them as two separate compliance jobs that happen to involve the same drink.
- Two applications, two departments. Nothing transfers. A Delhi L-17 gives you no standing in Maharashtra.
- Two renewal calendars. Delhi runs on the excise year with an annual policy; Maharashtra renews under its own rules.
- Two menus, potentially. If your Pune outlet runs on Form E, that menu cannot open in Delhi without the full licence.
- One stock discipline. Both states expect a licensed bar to account for duty-paid stock, and that is what an inspection examines.
That last point is where the two systems finally agree, and it is the part you control. A bar and brewery POS keeps pour-level stock against every bill, so the closing figure matches the licence conditions in either state.
Conclusion
The licence code is the easy part. What differs between Delhi and Maharashtra is what you are allowed to start with, whose name the licence sits in, and how the fee is calculated.
Maharashtra gives a new outlet a cheaper first step through Form E. Delhi publishes no such step, prices by seat count, and keeps the hotel bar licence with the hotel.
Work those three out before you sign a lease, because each one changes the site you should be looking for.
Then go to the state excise department for the current forms and fees, since both states revise them. Open the bar on numbers that reflect the state you are actually in, not the one your last outlet was in.
Once trading, the licence has to survive inspection. That comes down to stock records rather than paperwork. Petpooja’s bar POS tracks pours against bills so the closing figure holds up in either state.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Alcohol is a state subject, so each state grants its own licences under its own law. A Delhi L-17 has no standing in Maharashtra, and an FL-III has none in Delhi. A group operating in both applies separately in each.
Delhi does not publish a beer-only category for restaurants. Maharashtra does, in Form E, alongside Form E-II for wine. A Delhi outlet that wants to serve beer applies for the full restaurant licence.
The hotel. Delhi grants L-16 in conjunction with L-15 only, and L-15 goes to hotels with star classification and Department of Tourism approval. A restaurant leasing space inside the hotel cannot hold it separately.
It depends on seat covers. The published 2025-26 schedule runs from ₹14,90,756 for an L-17 up to 50 covers to ₹36,09,196 above 200 covers, with L-18 roughly half those figures. The department revises the schedule each excise year, so check the current one.
Neither is simple, but Maharashtra offers a lower first rung through its beer-only and wine-only forms. Delhi’s paperwork also pulls in several other departments, including municipal completion certificates and a fire NOC, which lengthens the timeline.
