Soon, Delhiites to pre-book favourite liquor brands through mobile app

New Delhi, Dec 16 (PTI) Soon, Delhiites will be able to pre-book their favourite liquor brands through an application to be launched by the city government, a move that is part of the draft of the new excise policy.

A committee led by Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Parvesh Verma has been tasked with preparing a draft of the excise policy. According to sources, the draft is likely to be put in the public domain for collecting feedback by January. The policy will be notified once it is approved by the Cabinet and the lieutenant governor.

The committee also has a plan to reduce the number of liquor outlets in residential areas to avoid clusters being formed.

The national capital has more than 700 liquor outlets that are run by four government corporations -- the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC), the Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC), the Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation (DSCSC) and the Delhi Consumers' Cooperative Wholesale Store (DCCWS).

"Multiple meetings have happened with the stakeholders on the policy. We have plans to bring an application that will help consumers check the availability of brands at nearby stores. They will have the option of pre-booking the brand they want to buy," a source said.

He added that whether the consumer will have to pay for pre-booking is something that is being explored. It is being planned that the store owner will wait for an hour for the customer to pick up the pre-booked order and if the time lapses, he will be free to sell it.

"All the stores will be mapped on this application and they will have to update about their stocks. Through this, we will also get to know which brands are popular. For instance, if several customers search for a brand and are unable to find it, we will get to know about it and introduce it at our stores," the source said.

The application will also have a section for redressal of grievances for the customers. Also, brand pushing by vends will be discouraged.

"There are no plans to increase the number of liquor vends. In fact, we plan to shift vends from residential areas and near schools. There are plans to have a distance of at least 350 metres between vends," the source added.

Earlier this year, the Delhi government extended the existing excise policy for three more months as it is yet to frame a new version of it.

The extended policy, also known as the old excise policy, came into operation in September 2022 after the then Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government scrapped its reformative policy (2021-22) that ran into rough weather amid allegations of irregularities in its formulation and implementation.

The old policy has since been extended for varying periods as the Delhi government is yet to come up with a new one.

Earlier, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta had told PTI that her government is working on a new, foolproof and transparent excise policy to augment revenue. She had said the new policy will be prepared on the basis of the best practices followed in other states.

Earlier, the committee, at its meetings, took feedback from stakeholders, including manufacturers and retailers, on excise revenue, the retail margin per bottle, ease of doing business, the legal age for drinking and the scope for private players, among other aspects. PTI SLB RC