Delhiites may soon enjoy home delivery of liquor, says report

• The excise department of Delhi has proposed to legalise the home delivery of liquor and put an end on all discounts offered by vendors
• The new excise policy is still in the early stages, but reports suggest it could be announced soon.
• The policy document also proposed to reduce the legal drinking age from 25 years to 21 years.

Delhiites may soon be able to get alcohol home delivered as the excise department of Delhi has proposed to legalise the home delivery of liquor and put an end to all the discounts offered by vendors in the new Delhi Excise Policy 2022-23.

The Delhi Cabinet may take a rational decision on the proposal this month, according to Hindustan Times report.

According to the official government procedures, it is mandatory to notify the excise policy at the start of every financial year. It has remained the same in the last few years, however, it was restructured last year by the Delhi government. It added the definition of new zones and included a one-time charge at the time of bidding for vends.

“If anyone home-delivers liquor as of now, it will be deemed illegal," said an excise official.

The new 2021 rules stated that shops with L-13 license will be allowed to deliver both Indian and foreign alcohol/liquor to the homes of people, only if the order is received through an online web portal or app. However, this rule restricts all deliveries to hostels, offices or institutions.

“Home deliveries have to be envisaged and built as a separate channel. It has a cost involved, and if it is force fitted, one of the current supply chain participants — manufacturer, distributor, retailer or consumer — will have to absorb it. That is a disincentive. Therefore, for home deliveries to succeed, an altogether new parallel distribution chain is needed which has provisions for costs and reasonable returns for all its participants,” said Vinod Giri, director general of the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC).

The existing policy also allows vendors to give discounts on liquor, however, it was discontinued by the Arvind Kejriwal-led government in February, as the discounts were attracting a lot of crowd outside liquor shops, violating COVID-19 rules and regulations.

On April 2, the Delhi government allowed the vendors to offer a maximum 25% discount on the retail price.

The new excise policy is still a work in progress, and reports suggest it will be announced soon.

“The department has submitted some proposals for the consideration of the cabinet. It will not be a new policy but a revised one which will try to address the challenges which were identified during the implementation of the existing policy (2021-22). There is a significant potential for revenue augmentation and also providing a decent standard of customer experience at par with the stature of the national capital," an unnamed official was quoted as saying by the report.

The policy document also proposed to reduce the legal drinking age from 25 years to 21 years in parity with neighbouring cities. However, it doesn’t highlight the home delivery access as part of excise rules.

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