Cuttack: Online sale of liquor will begin in Cuttack from tomorrow (May 25) amid the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, informed Cuttack district Collector Bhabani Shankar Chayani on Sunday.
The home delivery of liquor will begin in the district from tomorrow morning.
Following a meeting with the Cuttack Liquor Traders’ Association, it has been decided that the liquor shops in the district will start taking online orders from tomorrow morning, said Chayani.
People can place their orders online between 7 am to 1 pm and receive the ordered liquor between 1 pm and 6 pm. Meanwhile, the staff appointed by the traders will deliver the orders instead of any food aggregator, he said.
Odisha government on Saturday gave its nod for the resumption of liquor sale in the State by starting home delivery and imposed a ‘special Covid fees’ on MRP of the alcohol. However, there will be no counter sale of liquor by excise licensees.
As per the notification of the Excise department, the existing ON and OFF shops of IMFL and Beer situated in areas other than containment zones can resume the sale of liquor.
Excise Commissioner has been authorized to decide on the delivery charges from time to time. The present ceiling is Rs 100 for orders up to Rs 1000 and thereafter Rs 25 for every additional Rs 500 order value. In no case the delivery charge will exceed Rs 300.
Moreover, the aggregators can fix their own rates subject to the above ceiling, the notification read.
On the other hand, two food aggregators, Zomato and Swiggy have got permission to operate under several municipal corporation limits.
Excise department officials informed that both Zomato and Swiggy had applied for permission to deliver liquor and they have been allowed to operate in areas under Municipal Corporations of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur and Puri Municipality.
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