UP Excise Indent Online: How to Order the Right Stock in 2026

An indent is the stock order a UP liquor shop places on its wholesaler. Every bottle on your shelf came in through one, so the indent decides what you can sell next week.

Most owners do not struggle with the system. They struggle with the quantity. The indent goes out from memory, slow brands pile up in the godown, and the fast brand runs out on Saturday night. This guide covers the UP excise indent online process and how to size each order from real sales.

What an indent is and who supplies you

The UP retail rules for foreign liquor say a shop must take its supply from a wholesaler holding an FL-2 or FL-2B licence of its own district. That is rule 13(a), as amended in 2023. You cannot pick a wholesaler in the next district because the rate is better.

Buying from another district needs the prior permission of the Excise Commissioner. The rule allows this, for example, when supply in your district is interrupted. If that happens, speak to your district excise office first.

Rule 13(b) says the licensee "shall regularly place written indents on portal or, message to the wholesaler." So an indent can go through the excise portal or as a written message to your wholesaler. Ask your wholesaler which route he follows for your shop.

The wholesaler cannot charge you what he likes. An FL-2 may not charge above the maximum wholesale price fixed by the Excise Commissioner.

Country liquor shops work under their own set of rules. The idea is the same, but confirm the details with your district excise office.

Supply is prepaid

In UP, stock does not come on credit from the wholesaler. Rule 13(a) asks for full payment of the cost price, all taxes and the consideration fee before supply. The rule says this payment should be made "preferably through e-payment platform".

This is why a wrong indent hurts so much. The money for slow stock is already gone from your account the day you order it. It comes back only when the last bottle sells. A shop that over-orders slow brands every week slowly locks its working capital in the godown. Good wine shop inventory management starts here, at the order, not at the shelf.

The same rule also asks you to lift stock regularly. The 2023 text says you must lift, each month, at least the value of your fixed monthly minimum guaranteed revenue. If you fall short, you deposit additional security for the gap within 10 days, or the licence stands cancelled. The figures for your shop are set by the policy of the year, so confirm them with your district excise office.

UP excise indent online, step by step

The excise system in UP runs on one chain. Retailers, wholesalers and the department all sit on it. Here is the flow as far as we can verify it. Exact menu names and screens change, so follow what your own login shows.

1. Check your stock and sales first. Do this before you open the portal or message the wholesaler. The next section shows how.

2. Raise the indent. Log in and place the order on your district wholesaler, or send him the written message the rule allows. If you need help with the login itself, our guide to the UP excise portal login covers it.

3. Pay in full. Cost, taxes and consideration fee, preferably by e-payment. Keep the payment reference with the indent.

4. Track the indent. The public excise site at cms.upexciseonline.co has an Indent Tracking page. It asks for the financial year and the indent number, and shows the brands, sizes and bottle counts. You do not need to log in for this.

5. Receive the stock. When the cartons arrive, scan the QR code on the invoice with your excise device. The purchase then enters the excise system against your shop.

6. Count before you sign. Open the cartons and match the brands, sizes and bottle counts against your indent. Report any gap to the wholesaler the same day.

Time windows for placing indents, minimum indent size and delivery deadlines can differ by district and by wholesaler. Ask your district excise office or your wholesaler before you rely on any of them.

The mistakes that cost shops money

The same five mistakes show up again and again.

• Ordering by memory. The owner or the manager looks at the shelf and guesses. The guess follows last week's mood, not last month's sales.

• Over-ordering slow brands. A scheme or a salesman's push makes a brand look attractive. Ten cases come in, two cases sell, and the rest sit for months with your prepaid money inside them.

• Running out of fast brands on the weekend. Weekends usually sell more than weekdays. An indent sized on weekday sales leaves the counter empty when the rush comes.

• Not checking what arrived against what was indented. A short case or the wrong size goes unnoticed. Your stock register and the excise record then disagree, and you find out at month end.

• Forgetting the monthly lifting. A shop that orders too little for weeks can fall short of its monthly minimum guaranteed revenue. Then it has a security deposit to pay as well.

All five have one cause. The person placing the indent does not have the shop's real sales and stock in front of him.

How to size the indent from real sales and stock

You do not need a formula sheet. You need four numbers for each brand and size.

1. Average daily sale. Take the last two to four weeks of sales for that brand and size, and divide by the days.

2. Days of cover. Count the days until your next delivery, and add a few days as a buffer.

3. Weekend lift. If a weekend or a festival falls inside those days, add the extra you sold on the same days last time.

4. Stock in hand. Count what is on the shelf and in the godown today.

The indent quantity is the average daily sale multiplied by the days of cover, plus the weekend lift, minus the stock in hand. Round it to full cases.

Here is a made-up example. A shop sells a whisky 180 ml at an average of 40 bottles a day. The next delivery is in 5 days, and the shop keeps 2 more days as a buffer. So it needs 7 days of cover, which is 280 bottles. A Saturday falls in that window, and last Saturday sold 30 bottles above the average. That brings the need to 310 bottles. The shop holds 120 bottles today, so it indents 190 bottles and rounds up to full cases.

Now take a slow brand in the same shop. It sold 3 bottles a day over the last month, and the shop already holds 60 bottles. That is 20 days of stock. This brand does not go on this week's indent at all.

These numbers are invented to show the method. Your own shop's numbers will differ.

The method only works if the sales figure is right. A parcha written at night and a shelf count done by eye will not give you a true daily average. The sales number needs to come from billing.

How BottleShop helps you indent the right quantity

BottleShop does not place your indent on the excise portal. You still raise it on the portal or with your wholesaler, as rule 13(b) allows. What BottleShop gives you is the right number before you raise it.

• Live stock from billing. Billing takes under one second, and every bill moves stock. You see what is left of each brand and size at any moment, without a shelf count.

• Real sales by brand and size. The sales report gives you the daily average the sizing method needs, including what your Saturdays look like.

• Low-stock and stockout alerts on WhatsApp. The owner gets a WhatsApp message when a brand runs low and when it runs out. These alerts come with the Business plan, which also adds owner approvals for discounts and bill cancellations.

• Purchase entry and inventory. When the cartons arrive and you have scanned the invoice on your excise device, enter the purchase in BottleShop. Your stock then matches what came in. An optional add-on reads the wholesaler's invoice for you, so nobody types it.

• Daily registers from the same data. The daily category-wise registers for IMFL, wine, beer 5% and beer 8% come from the same billing, and so does the stock behind your monthly MST report.

BottleShop works on an Android tablet, keeps billing in full offline mode with auto-sync, and is live in 10 states with zero churn. You can see every module on the features page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an indent for a UP liquor shop?

An indent is the written stock order a UP retail shop places on its wholesaler. Under rule 13 of the retail foreign liquor rules, as amended in 2023, the shop places it on the excise portal or as a message to the wholesaler. The shop pays for the stock in full before supply.

Can I order stock from a wholesaler in another district?

You cannot do it on your own. Rule 13(a) says a retail shop takes supply from an FL-2 or FL-2B wholesaler of its own district. Buying from another district needs the prior permission of the Excise Commissioner, for example when supply in your district is interrupted. Speak to your district excise office first.

Do I have to pay before the wholesaler supplies?

Yes, you pay first. Rule 13(a) asks for full payment of the cost price, all taxes and the consideration fee before supply, preferably through an e-payment platform. This is why over-ordering slow brands hurts. The money is spent the day you order and comes back only when the stock sells.

How do I track a UP excise indent online?

The public UP excise site at cms.upexciseonline.co has an Indent Tracking page. Enter the financial year and your indent number to see the brands, sizes and bottle counts. It does not need a login. For anything else, use your own portal login or ask your wholesaler.

How does received stock enter the excise system?

When the stock arrives, you scan the QR code on the wholesaler's invoice with the excise device given to your shop. The purchase then enters the excise system against your shop. Count the cartons against your indent before you sign, and report any gap the same day.

How much stock should I order in one indent?

Multiply each brand's average daily sale by the days until your next delivery, add a buffer and the extra weekend sale, then subtract the stock in hand. Round to full cases. The method needs a true daily sale figure, so it works best when every sale is billed.

Jo maal nahi bik raha, ab aapko dikhta hai. Message us on WhatsApp at +91 84473 30196 for a free inventory audit of your shop.

Last updated: 14 November 2026