Delhiites will soon be able to order liquor for home delivery as the Delhi Excise Department has put forward a proposal in the Delhi Excise Policy 2022-23 to legalize home delivery of liquor and stop the discounts offered by vendors.
As of now, it is the government process that mandates that the product policy which will be notified at the beginning of each financial year. The Delhi cabinet may take a decision on the proposals this month.
According to a report published in Hindustan TimesThough the Delhi Excise (Amendment) Rules, 2021 allowed home delivery of liquor, the government needs to operationalize the provision by issuing appropriate orders and notifications, which has not been done so far.
“If someone delivers liquor at home, it will be considered illegal,” said an excise official.
Earlier the excise regime was restructured by the Arvind Kejriwal government with the definition of new areas, the taxes being included in one-time fee at the time of bidding for the taxes.
As per the 2021 rules, shops with L-13 license will be allowed to deliver Indian and foreign liquor to private households, but only if the order is received through mobile app or online web portal. It prohibits delivery in a hostel, office or any institution.
Though the current excise policy also allows exemption on liquor, on February 28 this year, the Delhi government discontinued the discounts offered by shops due to overcrowding and violation of COVID-related guidelines. On April 2, the Delhi government allowed liquor shops to offer a maximum discount of 25% on the maximum retail price.
An excise department official said the excise policy for 2022-23 is in the final stages of preparations, and will be notified soon. “The department has submitted some proposals for the consideration of the cabinet. This will not be a new policy but a revised policy which will try to address the challenges identified during the implementation of the existing policy (2021-22). There is a significant potential for revenue growth and to provide a good standard of customer experience at par with the stature of the national capital,” said the official, asking not to be named.
As per the 2021-22 excise policy, each liquor outlet in the city will provide a walk-in experience to its customers, who will have multiple choice of brands, and the entire selection and sales process will be completed within the vend premises. However, the policy document does not highlight home delivery of alcohol which is part of the excise regulations and the legal drinking age which was proposed to be reduced from 25 years to 21 years with neighboring cities.
*With inputs from agencies