ONLINE food delivery firms Zomato and Swiggy have started home-delivery of liquor in India amid the COVID-19 lockdown. The service started in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand.
Recently, India's supreme court has directed states to consider home-delivery of liquor during the lockdown.
The Jharkhand government has collaborated with the two food delivery services to deliver liquor at people's doorsteps. Both Zomato and Swiggy will deliver alcohol in Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Bokaro in collaboration with the Jharkhand government.
People will have the option to book alcohol via the Zomato and Swiggy food delivery apps.
"With due permissions and licences in place, we are starting home delivery of alcohol in Jharkhand. We believe that a technology-enabled home delivery based solution can enable the responsible consumption of alcohol as well as provide an option that’s safer and promotes social distancing," said Zomato in a statement.
Initially, it will go live in Ranchi and seven other cities in Jharkhand over the next couple of days, the company said.
Apart from delivering food, Swiggy and Zomato began delivering groceries to people at home during the lockdown period.
Meanwhile, in New Delhi people can go for an e-token to buy liquor with ease via the retail stores. Users simply need to head to the government-created website ' www.qtoken.in' to get e-tokens.
The e-token will provide users with a time slot within which they can head to the nearest liquor store and get some with less crowd. Many other states in the country are also considering such options, reports said.
Lord Karan Bilimoria speaks during the event
