Home delivery of liquor may soon be a reality in Delhi: Report

Delhiites may soon will be able to order liquor for home delivery as the Delhi excise department has put forward a proposal to legalise the home delivery of liquor and stop regulating discounts offered by vendors in the Delhi Excise Policy 2022-23.

As of now, it is the government procedure that mandates that the excise policy that shall be notified at the start of every financial year. The Delhi cabinet may take a decision on the proposals this month itself.

According to a report published in Hindustan Times, though the Delhi Excise (Amendment) Rules, 2021 allowed the home delivery of liquor, vends need the government to operationalise the provision by issuing appropriate orders and notifications, which has not been done so far.

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

Earlier the excise regime was restructured by the Arvind Kejriwal government with the definition of new zones, taxes subsumed into a one-time charge at the time of bidding for vends

According to the 2021 rules, shops with an L-13 licence will be permitted to deliver Indian and foreign liquor to private homes, but only if the order is received through a mobile app or an online web portal. It restricts deliveries to a hostel, office, or an institution.

Though the existing excise policy also permits discounts on liquor, on February 28 this year, the Delhi government discontinued discounts offered by stores due to overcrowding and violations of Covid-related guidelines. On April 2, the Delhi government permitted liquor stores to offer up to a maximum of 25% discount on the maximum retail price.

An official of the excise department said the 2022-23 excise policy is in the final stage of preparations, and will be notified 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,” said the official, asking not to be named

According to the 2021-22 excise policy, every liquor outlet in the city will provide a walk-in experience to its customers who will have multiple choices of brands, and the entire selection and sale process will be completed within the vend premise. The policy document, however, does not highlight home delivery of liquor which is part of Excise Rules and legal drinking age that was proposed to be reduced from 25 years to 21 years in parity with neighbouring cities.

*With inputs from agencies