Mumbai: In good news for tipplers, the state government is planning to allow wine shops to continue with home delivery of liquor even after the ongoing lockdown is over.
“At present, home delivery of liquor has been allowed only till the lockdown is in force. A decision about allowing home delivery will be taken after the unlocking, when we realize there is no need for physical distancing,” a senior state government official told FPJ.
If allowed, this will be an enabling provision, which will allow retailers to undertake doorstep delivery apart from counter sales. Like now, this would be subject to the consumers having a liquor consumption permit.
Maharashtra, a state which has one of the most stringent prohibition laws in India, does not allow liquor vendors to advertise, solicit consumers, or sell it online. Though this rule is largely followed in violation, wine shops are also not allowed to deliver liquor at home. The law also disallows sale, possession and transport of liquor without permits.
In 2014, the state excise department had cracked down on websites offering home delivery of alcohol. This is because home delivery and online sale raises the chances of minors accessing alcohol and supply of duty-evaded and spurious liquor.
Liquor shops in the state had been shut down in the run up to the COVID-19 induced lockdown. However, relaxations were granted from May 4 onwards, leading to wine shops being gradually allowed to operate across Maharashtra. In Mumbai and cities in the metropolitan region, wine shops have been allowed to only home deliver liquor.
Dilip Gianani, Chairman, Maharashtra Wine Merchants Association, this enabling provision can be a supporting system for legal home deliveries and run concurrently with counter sales. He stressed that the system needed to be changed to introduce checks and balances to prevent underage drinking.
Gianani said at present, wine shops, which have an average margin of 8.10% on sales, were finding it difficult to deploy manpower and machinery for home deliveries, in addition to the threat of pilferage and problems in handling cash.
While Maharashtra sells around 3 crore bulk litres (BL) of country liquor per month, just 1.60 crore BL was consumed in May because of the flight of labour from cities and economic distress. Sales of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) dropped from 1.78 lakh BL per month to 1 crore BL. However, the sharpest fall is seen in the consumption of beer, which was just 1.24 crore BL in May compared to the average of 3.64 crore BL.
In the 2019-20 financial year, the state excise department earned revenues of Rs 15,428 crore against the Rs 17,977 crore target.
