30-paise Hologram Sticker Drives Wedge Between Minister, Secretary
The dispute has reignited a political storm that dates back to 2010, during the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh regime.
Hyderabad:The long-running controversy over the hologram sticker contract in the excise department has resurfaced following a tussle between excise minister Jupally Krishna Rao and revenue secretary (excise) S.A.M. Rizvi. The dispute has reignited a political storm that dates back to 2010, during the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh regime.
The lucrative contract — which pays a private firm 30 paise per liquor bottle for affixing a hologram sticker — has become a focal point of contention due to the high financial stakes and allegations of official inaction. With the state selling around 100 crore liquor bottles annually, the contractor earns nearly `30 crore per year. The department’s recent proposal to extend hologram stickers to beer bottles, estimated at another 60 crore annually, could increase the contractor’s income by about `18 crore, taking the total to `48 crore per year.
The issue of calling fresh tenders to award the hologram contract has become a flashpoint between Krishna Rao and Rizvi. The latter recently opted for voluntary retirement (VRS), reportedly following disagreements over the minister’s directives. Hologram stickers are used by the department to monitor liquor movement from distilleries to retail outlets and to curb adulteration and cross-border smuggling.
The controversy first broke out in August 2012, under the Congress government of then Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy. Following the arrest of then excise minister Mopidevi Venkata Ramana in a disproportionate assets case linked to YSRC chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Kiran Kumar Reddy took direct charge of the excise portfolio.
The Kiran Kumar Reddy government subsequently awarded the contract to Uflex Pvt. Ltd., which quoted 22 paise per label. The firm’s contract was later extended until 2014. After Telangana’s formation, the previous BRS government continued with the same company without issuing fresh tenders for nearly a decade.
When the Congress government came to power in December 2023, excise minister Krishna Rao sought to end the monopoly by initiating a new tender process. In August 2024, he directed officials to invite fresh bids, but the process was delayed.
On Wednesday, Krishna Rao lodged a complaint with Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao, accusing Rizvi of deliberately stalling the tender process and altering the composition of the expert committee overseeing it. According to the complaint, Rizvi removed the post of revenue secretary (excise) from the committee and, despite repeated instructions in September 2024 not to do so, referred the issue to the Chief Minister’s Office for reconstitution — causing further delays.
The minister alleged that Rizvi’s inaction held up the process until April 2025, when 23 firms finally submitted bids. However, no progress was made in finalising the contract. Instead, Rizvi allegedly allowed Uflex to continue supplying hologram stickers even though its agreement had expired in June 2019, raising questions about procedural propriety.
In his complaint, Krishna Rao accused Rizvi of “grave misconduct” and violation of government orders, urging the government to reject his VRS application. Despite these objections, the government approved Rizvi’s voluntary retirement, effective October 31.
Rizvi, however, was not available for a comment on the allegations.
