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Covid lockdown: Delhi High Court to take final call on online delivery of liquor
While one of the petitions challenges the “special corona fee” levied by the government at 70% of the MRP of liquor, another pertains to proposing a policy through which liquor can be ordered online.
Even though the Delhi excise department has started drafting a standard operating procedure (SOP) and working on a web link, senior officials said on Sunday that the city government’s final call on the online delivery of liquor would depend on the directions of the Delhi High Court, which is scheduled to hear several petitions on the sale of liquor on Monday.
While one of the petitions challenges the “special corona fee” levied by the government at 70% of the MRP of liquor, another pertains to proposing a policy through which liquor can be ordered online. The two other petitions challenge the very act of allowing a limited number of liquor shops to open amid the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of Covid-19, a senior government official said.
Currently, the lockdown guidelines of the union home ministry limit e-commerce activities to essential goods (which do not include liquor) in red zones (which include all 11 revenue districts in Delhi). Also, the Delhi Excise Act prohibits the online transaction of liquor. But, senior officials said, laws such as the Disaster Management Act can provide room for temporary relief in this regard.
On Friday, the Supreme Court had said that states should consider the option of home delivery of liquor to reduce crowding outside liquor shops. Currently, around 10% of the total 864 liquor shops in the Capital are functional, leading to mass gatherings outside shops and the rampant violation of social distancing norms, which recently compelled the government to launch an e-coupon system for people to apply online and visit liquor shops during allotted times to avoid long queues.
“The Supreme Court had issued an advisory. We are awaiting clear directions. Hence, the High Court hearings scheduled tomorrow are crucial to take a final call on the matter,” the senior government official said.
However, the work on an SOP is in progress. The excise department has held three meetings in this regard with finance, IT and other departments last week after Chief Secretary Vijay Dev told Excise Commissioner Ravi Dhawan to come up with a proposal on the home delivery of liquor at the earliest, the senior official said.
OUTSOURCING OPTIONS
The Delhi government is also deliberating on outsourcing the technical work of setting up a web page and mobile application for the home delivery of liquor, in case it gets a go-ahead from the High Court on Monday, a senior official said, adding that excise officials have informally approached a technology company for the job.
The government’s ongoing initiative of launching a web link to issue e-coupons has acted as a good learning experience, a senior excise official said.
The weblink remains non-functional for a large part of the day showing ‘Error 500’, which refers to inadequacies in the server. “There is excessive load on that server. It is the same server which is currently catering to applications for ration coupons, ₹5,000 financial aid per auto-rickshaw driver and applications pertaining to both sending back and bringing back stranded individuals, from migrants to tourists and students,” the senior official said.
Officials in the chief minister’s office said that the government has issued more than 550,000 e-coupons so far since Thursday evening, despite such glitches.
On Sunday, HT met several customers outside two liquor shops who had availed of e-coupons on Friday but found the shop closed when they got there at the allotted time. The reason – the shop had run out of stock.
“The server is always down. I had to wake up at 3am to get a coupon. Now, it appears that it is of no use. The shop manager claims he has run out of stock,” one of the e-coupon applicants (who wished to not be identified) said outside a designated government-run liquor shop in Govindpuri Extension.
PRIVATE LIQUOR SHOPS TO NOT OPEN YET
Thirty private liquor shops that are not located in malls and markets across the city will still not reopen until further orders, a senior government official said, adding, “The decision was taken today after three days of deliberation.”
Of Delhi’s 864 liquor shops, only 172, which are government-operated, have received permission to reopen as they are ‘standalone shops’ – which means they are not located in markets, malls and commercial spaces, which the central government guidelines prohibit for red zone districts.
For reasons ranging from lack of stock to inadequate human resources, around 80 have been functioning regularly.
The government was open to the idea of allowing private liquor shops to operate too but under a survey done by the municipal corporations, only 30 of them across the city have qualified as ‘standalone’ shops.
However, according to officials, they have now dropped the idea.