Alcoholic beverage sales to retail dealers must be on cash, 15-day, or qualifying credit-card terms, and late payment can trigger notice, cash-only sales to the defaulting retailer, and license suspension.
§148. Form of payment; timely payment; penalty for violation A. No manufacturer or wholesale dealer shall sell, offer to sell, or deliver any alcoholic beverage to any retail dealer in this state, and no retail dealer in alcoholic beverages shall buy or accept delivery for any such beverage, for any consideration other than cash or on terms requiring payment not later than the fifteenth day following that on which actual delivery is made, or by credit card payment where the credit card discount fees or merchant fees are added to the cost of the transaction as a convenience fee and the fees are paid by the retailer. If any payment is not made punctually when due, the vendor shall immediately notify the commissioner thereof and the commissioner shall promptly notify all manufacturers and wholesale dealers in the state of the default and thereafter no person shall sell any alcoholic beverage to the retailer in default on any other terms than cash delivery, until otherwise authorized by the commissioner. Under penalty of suspension of his permit, the retailer who is in default shall pay his obligation in full within thirty days from the date it became due. B. Whoever violates this Section may have his license suspended for not more than five days for the first offense and not more than thirty days for a subsequent offense. Each failure of a retail dealer to make payment for any default before the expiration of the period of suspension constitutes a subsequent offense. In addition, the retail dealer may be required to make payment in cash for all alcoholic beverages subsequently sold or delivered to him. C. The commissioner shall make and publish rules and regulations for the enforcement of this Section. Acts 1987, No. 696, §1; Acts 2021, No. 278, §1.