Food delivery unicorn Zomato is reportedly aiming to start delivering alcohol to consumers as the company seeks to encash on the high-demand for liquor in India amid lockdown.
According to a document seen by Reuters, Zomato is trying to lobby for a change in alcohol rules in India along with International Spirits and Wines Association of India (ISWAI). India, currently doesn’t allow for delivery of alcohol, something which the liquor lobby and consumers have been longing forever.
India’s first legal alcohol home delivery startup HipBar had to close down its services permanently in Bengaluru after a Karnataka High Court ruling. Similarly, Google-backed task management app Dunzo had to refrain from delivering alcoholic beverages in Bengaluru, Gurugram as well as in Pune.
Zomato has already diversified into grocery deliveries as the restrictions on movement shuttered some restaurants and people hesitated to order outside food due to fears of catching the disease.
The recent development from Zomato comes at a time when alcohol stores nationwide were allowed to re-open in the third-phase of lockdown, generating queues of hundreds of people outside some outlets in some cities and leading to baton charges by police to enforce social distancing protocols.
To deter the large crowds, New Delhi authorities introduced a “Special Corona Fee” of 70% on top of retail alcohol prices, while Mumbai shut its liquor stores within two days of reopening them.
“We believe that a technology-enabled home delivery based solution can promote responsible consumption of alcohol,” Mohit Gupta, Zomato’s CEO for food delivery, wrote in a business proposal to ISWAI.
The legal age for drinking alcohol varies from state to state, ranging between 18 and 25 years.
Zomato would target “areas that are relatively less affected by COVID-19,” Gupta wrote in the unpublished document, submitted to ISWAI in mid-April and seen by Reuters.
ISWAI’s executive chairman Amrit Kiran Singh said states should allow alcohol deliveries to help boost state revenues hit by the lockdown.
“The challenge is to ensure revenue from alcohol continues to be available,” he told Reuters. “…It is imperative they (states) reduce the load on the retail counter … by encouraging home delivery.”
India’s alcohol drinks market was worth almost $27.2 billion in 2018, according to the most recent figures from the London-based research group IWSR Drinks Market Analysis.
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