New Delhi: Starting September 1, the private liquor shops in Delhi have become a thing of the past as the capital returns to the old liquor policy from Thursday. Unlike Delhi govt’s new excise policy, the old system mandated the sale of liquor & alcohol via government vends.
For tipplers and liquor lovers in the capital, it comes as a setback because existing private shops will down shutters thus making accessibility difficult for days to come. Till now, there are about 250 private liquor vends, operating under now withdrawn new Excise policy but with old policy kicking in, 300 government shops will sell liquor.
What changes from today: No ‘free’ offer, more dry days
Though the number of shops will increase from 250 to 300 from today but tipplers will indeed have a problem in locating the shops.
Private liquor shops brought in many offers & rebates like – buy one, get one free, two plus three on MRP of liquor price. All that will vanish now at the government vends. Moreover, the number of dry days will also rise sharply – from 3 to 21.
Flyers & travelers at the Delhi airport will also face inconvenience as the liquor shops won’t be operational for sometime.
mAbkari Delhi App to help liquor lovers
The Excise department is about to launch a new App – mAbkariDelhi to reach out to customers and help them with liquor related information, however, it will take some time.
Once the App goes live, it will give detailed information on availability of liquor brands in the capital and also the list of retail vends in all localities. One can check the list of dry days and also a bottle scanner to check the authenticity of the liquor.
The app will be available in 2 languages — English and Hindi.
By December end, the Excise department plans to add 200 more shops. Also, 6-8 premium vends will also open in malls & shopping complexes for selling foreign liquor brands. Overall, the capital may see considerable rise in number of liquor shops and it may upto about 700 by year end.
