Consider home delivery of alcohol during lockdown: SC tells states
As the opening of liquor stores in non-containment zones led to chaos, serpentine queues, and the social distancing rules were bulldozed, the Supreme Court on Friday asked states to consider home delivery of these products. The top court made these remarks while hearing a plea challenging the government's decision to sell liquor amid the nationwide lockdown, imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus.
Giving in to the demands of states, the Centre had tweaked the lockdown rules in the last announcement about its extension. Barring the hotspots in red zones, standalone liquor stores were opened, but owners were directed to follow distancing rules. However, when the stores finally opened, people thronged to purchase liquor, forcing authorities to shut them. In Mumbai, the ban was re-imposed.
On the plea seeking a ban on the direct sale of liquor, a bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and BR Gavai said, "We will not pass any order but states should consider home delivery or indirect sale of liquor to maintain social distancing." The bench heard the matter through video-conferencing. "Discussion on home delivery (of alcohol) is going on," Justice Kaul said.
When the Centre let liquor shops to function, the International Spirits and Wines Association of India (ISWAI) said it would start a "Safe Shield" program for "contactless" sales. In the first phase, the body planned to install sanitizers at every shop and give away liquor in trays for minimum contact. The next phase was to be about the online delivery of liquor.
"COVID-19 is going to stay for some time so we have to institutionalize 'Safe Shield' and home delivery measures into liquor retail sales. If we do this properly, 75% of revenue to states can come back," Chairman Amrit Kiran Singh said.
Considering the high demand, food-tech unicorn Zomato wants to try home delivery of alcohol. "We believe that a technology-enabled home delivery solution can promote responsible consumption of alcohol," Mohit Gupta, Zomato's CEO for food delivery wrote to ISWAI, in a letter seen by Reuters. Zomato said it would target areas that are less impacted by COVID-19. There is no official confirmation about it yet.
Till now, three states — West Bengal, Punjab, and Chhattisgarh, have allowed home delivery of liquor. Delhi is also discussing such an idea. As of now, the Delhi government has launched a portal for distributing e-tokens to buy liquor from stores at a decided time. Several states hiked prices to generate more revenue, but that didn't stop people from splurging on liquor.
