As liquor shops open across the country, food delivery platform Zomato is reportedly looking to foray into delivering alcohol, Reuters reports.
A high demand for alcohol was seen as thousands queued up outside liquor stores across the country, making physical distancing in queues difficult to maintain. Zomato wants to cash in on this demand and the need for physical distancing in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zomato has reportedly written a business proposal, submitted to the International Spirits and Wines Association of India in April, stating that home delivery enabled by technology could be a solution to ‘promote responsible consumption of alcohol’. It plans to target areas that are less affected by coronavirus.
There is no legal provision currently in India that allows home delivery of alcohol.
The ISWAI has been lobbying to allow home delivery of alcohol in the country and has been working with other companies for this, including Zomato.
"The challenge is to ensure revenue from alcohol continues to be available… It is imperative they (states) reduce the load on the retail counter ... by encouraging home delivery,” Reuters quotes ISWAI executive chairman Amrit Kiran Singh as saying.
After alcohol stores opened across India this week, there were many instances of overcrowding at these stores, prompting some of them to shut shops. Mumbai shut stores within a day of opening alcohol stores due to the crowd.
At a time such as this, experts say that home delivery would ensure both sale of alcohol and would keep people from coming out.
Earlier, in Bengaluru apps Dunzo and HipBar delivered alcohol. But the state’s online delivery of alcohol was shut down in September 2018 by the Karnataka High Court, after the excise department stated that there was no licence for the online delivery of liquor.
Some sate governments are warming up to the idea of home delivery of liquor, with Punjab and West Bengal putting it into motion.