Swiggy is in talks with multiple state governments to seek permission for home delivery of alcohol from local licensed retailers, a top executive said.
“We are in talks with a host of state governments,” said Vivek Sunder, chief operating officer, Swiggy at the Economic Times Virtual Tech Summit. “If the government gives us a green signal… And we are making sure everyone is safe in the process… we will explore that possibility-…We are not going to rush into it prematurely,” he added.
Several state governments, including Punjab, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Delhi, and Orissa have in-principle welcomed the Supreme Court opinion favouring home delivery of alcohol and have held talks with Swiggy, Zomato and smaller startups like HipBar and Liqhub, to understand the valueproposition of alcohol delivery.
While startups are suggesting several solutions to ensure that age verification and safety across the value chain is protected using technology, manufacturers say the decision for states won’t be easy.
“Retail stores…pay a big licence fee and this might eat into some part of their business..and since alcohol business retailers tend to be very heavily politically connected … we will have to see how this will weigh,” a top executive at an alcohol beverage manufacturing firm told ET.
“Our research shows that facilitating home-delivery can potentially double the current collection for states while also strengthen the economy,” said Aryan Solanki, Let’sBuyDrink, which started operations in early 2013, but was non-operational since June 2014 due to lack of regulatory clarity.
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