Swiggy and Zomato start alcohol delivery in Jharkhand, to come to more states

While it was in talks for a long time now, Swiggy and Zomato and now finally delivering alcohol. This is restricted to Jharkhand state, right now, but it will come to more states. This comes in light to avoid community transmission due to crowding and practice social distancing. This way, people won't have to stand in long queues to get hold of liquor.

The cities that both the apps will include are- Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Hazaribagh, Deoghr, Dhanbad, Ramgarh, Giridih, Palamu and Bokaro. There will be a special section "Wine Shops" on the apps. It has received the approval of the Government of Jharkhand. Only authorised retailers are allowed to deliver using Swiggy and Zomato.

How much can you order?

We still don't know how much liquor quantity will the app allow per person to order at home; or how will the apps verify the age of the consumer.

What did the Government officials state?

Excise and Prohibition Secretary Vinay Kumar Chaubey reportedly stated:

We have adopted a hybrid system for making liquor available in some of the big cities. These are Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Bokaro, Hazaribagh, Deoghr, Dhanbad, Ramgarh, Giridih and Palamu. We have opened the retail liquor shops where people can go and purchase liquor taking care of social distancing. Secondly, people can get home delivery of liquor at their doorsteps through the two food aggregators – Zomato and Swiggy by downloading the app on their mobile phones.

Swiggy and Zomato have laid off employees as the pandemic has after the food-delivery business. They think that the future will be better but right now, they can't recover costs. So, Swiggy said it will lay off 1,100 employees across grades and functions while Zomato said it will let go of 13% of its staff.

Read More: Swiggy follows Zomato’s footsteps, lays off 14% of employees