By offering alcohol delivery, fake websites defraud many in Delhi

A crime branch official familiar with the matter said that some of these websites came up in the last couple of days, soon after a discussion in the Delhi government started over the possibility of home delivery to reduce crowding at liquor shops.

While the Delhi government is still considering whether or not to allow the home delivery of liquor in the Capital, the idea has already opened a window of opportunity for fraudsters who are cheating customers through fake websites that promise doorstep delivery of alcohol.

A liquor shop volunteer checks the e-coupon of a customer as per Delhi government guidelines before he queues up at a liquor shop in Kotla village near Mayur Vihar, in New Delhi on Friday. (Mohd Zakir/HT Photo)

Over the last few days, officials in the Delhi excise department say they have found about 20 incidents of people being tricked into making online payments for the home delivery of liquor bottles, which never arrived.

On Wednesday, the department -- through its assistant commissioner Alok Kumar -- filed a complaint with the Delhi Police listing several fake websites that were offering the home delivery of liquor.

“We have come across nearly 20 similar frauds despite the excise rules in Delhi not allowing any individuals or websites to sell liquor online, or accept orders for home delivery. There is no such approval from the Delhi government. We have filed a complaint with the city police, seeking registration of a case and investigation to nab such fraudsters,” Kumar said.

The complaint has been forwarded to Delhi Police’s crime branch. “We have received the complaint and are looking into it. A first information report (FIR) would be registered as soon as we complete our initial inquiry,” said Praveer Ranjan, special commissioner of police (crime).

Almost 20 people have been duped, each for varying amounts between ₹1,000 and ₹10,000, totalling to over ₹1 lakh, the police said.

A crime branch official familiar with the matter said that some of these websites came up in the last couple of days, soon after a discussion in the Delhi government started over the possibility of home delivery to reduce crowding at liquor shops and avoid the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

The people running these websites promised to deliver alcohol, of different kinds and brands, within two-three hours of the orders being placed. However, after accepting online payments, no such delivery was made to the customers. When the customers tried contacting the cellphone numbers listed on the sites, they were either switched off or out of order, the officer cited above said, explaining the modus operandi.

“The websites were also later found unavailable. Some people who were duped complained about the excise department about it. As many such complaints arrived, the excise department filed a complaint. We are trying to identify and nab such mischievous elements,” added the officer, who asked not to be named.

Amit Singh, a student from west Delhi who was duped of ₹1,760, said that he had seen a website link for the home delivery of liquor on a social media group. Singh visited the website and got in touch with its executive through online chat. The executive tricked him into believing that the government had authorised them to deliver alcohol.

“They were charging double the original rate of the alcohol, attributing it to the tax hike and home delivery charges. I paid ₹1,760 for six bottles of beer and shared the screenshot of the payment. He promised to deliver the consignment within a day. But it never came. I filed a complaint with the excise department,” Singh said.

Liquor shops opened this week after a 43-day hiatus owing to the national lockdown, and have been overrun, with long queues, and frequent violations of social distancing norms.

Though the home delivery of liquor has not be cleared yet, the Delhi government on Thursday announced an e-token system to avoid crowding. The tokens -- specifying the store and time slot for purchase -- can be procured from a web link (https://www.qtoken.in/) set up by the excise department, the government said.