Pune: Black Marketing Of Alcohol Delivery Starts Again; Only Hotels, Restaurants And Bars Permitted For Home Delivery

Sumit Singh

Pune, 15 April 2021: Amid curbs to contain the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) had allowed home delivery of liquor from Monday to Friday from 7 am to 6 pm.

However, now all the liquor shops will not be permitted to provide home delivery service.
The excise department has permitted only the restaurants, bars, and hotels to deliver alcohol.

The illegal sale of liquor is now at its peak as people are trying to get alcohol at any cost. A nip (180 ml) of McDowell’s No.1 whisky which usually costs around Rs 150 is being sold for Rs 500, while a nip of Vat 69 Scotch whisky is being sold for Rs 1000, informed Ganpati, an IT professional from the Ravet area of Pimpri-Chinchwad city.

“The district authorities have issued an order on Thursday regarding the home delivery of liquor, permitting only restaurants, bars, and hotels to provide the service,” said State Excise Department Superintendent Santosh Zagade.

“We will take strict actions if someone is found selling alcohol illegally or at a higher price than MRP. We have received an SOP from the district authorities regarding the same,” he added.

“Online sale of alcohol has begun in Pune again, however, it is not allowed through any aggregator or website links. It can be only ordered through mobile numbers or WhatsApp,” informed Zagade.

“The district authorities have has permitted hotels, restaurants, and bars for home delivery of liquor, however, we have not received any relief from Excise Department. Moreover, we were supposed to pay the license fee till March 31 but have gotten an extension for nine days. We were expecting a certain relief from the government and now, the lockdown has begun. So we did not have any conversation with them. Around 90 per cent of bar owners have not paid the license fee as we were in the negotiations with the government, informed Vicky Bachani, Co-owner of Farmaaish and a member of the United Hospitality Association.

“As per the latest order, 90 per cent of bar owners cannot provide home delivery of alcohol as they have not paid their license fee yet.

Now, the illegal sale of liquor will be at its peak as restaurants and hotels can not sell only liquor at MRP. They can manage it if food and liquor both are ordered at the same time. This will increase the price of the food and manage the liquor price in the bills. We should also get permission to provide home delivery services,” informed Abhay Sawant from Pune District Wine Merchant Association (PDWMA).