Bhubaneswar: Odisha government has given permission for home delivery of liquor from May 24, nearly two months since the closure of liquor shops in the state following the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the Excise Department, home delivery of liquor by existing ON & OFF shop licensees of IMFL and Beer have been allowed with effect from tomorrow. However no excise licensees of any type have been allowed to sell liquor across the counter or in their premises.
Besides, the home delivery of liquor in the containment zones and shopping malls is prohibited.
State Government has introduced a “Special Covid Fee” by amending the relevant rules and increased the MRPs of all types of foreign liquor & Beer by 50% of the MRPs prevailing last year (2019-20). The additional revenue so generated will go towards meeting the expenses being incurred by State Government in treatment of Covid-19 patients and other related activities.
Home delivery of liquor can be taken up by retailers directly and also through reputed food aggregators, standard technology platforms, delivery service providers etc. acting as retail aggregators.
ON/OFF shop licensees will prominently display their phone/mobile/whatsapp no./email id/UPI details for receiving the orders and facilitating digital payments outside their shop. OSBC website (osbc.co.in) will also display the district wise list of ON/OFF shops licensees alongwith their details. The product wise latest MRP will also be displayed on the website.
The orders for home delivery of liquor can be received by the retailers over phone or through SMS, whatsapp, email etc. Retailers have to ensure that there is no crowding in front of their shops.
Excise Commissioner has been authorised to decide on the rates for delivery charges from time to time. The ceiling notified by him at present is Rs. 100/- for orders upto Rs. 1000/- and thereafter Rs. 25/- for every additional Rs. 500/- order value. In no case the delivery charge will exceed Rs. 300/-.
Normal timing for Home delivery would be between 7 AM to 6 PM. The retailers and other agencies involved in home delivery have to abide by the legal provisions of maximum quantity of liquor which can be transported in each delivery.