Door step booze drop even after lock down?

In good news for tipplers, the state government plans 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 realise there is no need for physical distancing,” a senior state government official told The Free Press Journal.

If allowed, this will be an enabling provision, allowing retailers to undertake doorstep delivery in addition to sales over-thecounter. As is the case currently, this facility would be subject to consumers having a valid 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 online. Though there is large-scale, freeflowing violation of this rule, wine shops are also not allowed to make home deliveries of liquor. 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 increase the chances of minors gaining access to alcohol and the supply of contraband and spurious liquor.

Liquor shops in the state were shut in the run-up to the coronainduced lockdown. However, relaxations were granted from May 4 onwards, leading to wine shops being gradually allowed to operate across Maharashtra. In Mumbai and its metropolitan region, wine shops have only been allowed to deliver liquor to homes.

Dilip Gianani, Chairman, Maharashtra Wine Merchants' Association, said this enabling provision could be a support 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, currently, 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 posed by pilferage and problems in handling cash.

While Maharashtra sells around three 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 178 lakh BL per month, to 1 crore BL. However, the sharpest fall was 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 FY 2019-20, the state excise department earned a revenue of Rs 15,428 crore, against the Rs 17,977 crore target.