Delhi: Still can’t get liquor delivered in the national capital? Here is why

The notification led to amendment of key provisions in the Delhi Excise Rules regarding home deliveries and allowed microbreweries to offer takeaway draught beer among other provisions.

The Delhi government had earlier stated that it will allow the delivery of liquor to residences. The move had come after the national capital witnessed long queues of people in front of liquor stores that could trigger an increase in Covid-19 transmission. For liquor delivery, the government has changed some rules for governing the trade of alcohol, and that has drawn a lot of attention. The amendment was done on June 1 and came into effect on June 11 which gave impetus to liquor delivery. However, the liquor delivery option is still some steps away from Delhiites.

The notification led to amendment of key provisions in the Delhi Excise Rules regarding home deliveries and allowed microbreweries to offer takeaway draught beer among other provisions. To be sure, the rules noted that home delivery of alcohol in Delhi can be permitted if the suppliers apply for an L-13 licence. And the ones having an L-13 licence will be able to carry out deliveries at the residences given that the orders are via e-mail or by Fax and not telephone. Now this seemed to be a problem and therefore, there were not many takers for the licence hindereding the delivery of alcohol, a report by The IE noted.

Now, with the amendments on June 1, the government has replaced the means of ordering alcohol from e-mail and fax to mobile apps and online web portals. This means that alcohol can now be delivered when order is placed from a mobile app or an online web portal. It is to note that these deliveries can be made only at the residences and not to any hostel, office, and institution.

The report highlighted that the notification is only an enabler and there is more work to be done before the deliveries actually happen. For now, the government has to draw up certain regulations that ensure that the home delivery provision is not misused like in cases of underage drinking, theft, or inter-state smuggling of liquor. This is quite important as liquor sales is a major source of revenue for the state government and misuse can be problematic.

Apart from this, the government needs to make sure that there are fixed delivery charges. It is likely that this will push up liquor charges significantly. Until and unless these points are taken into consideration, liquor delivery will remain delayed in Delhi.