Booze on bike: Swiggy expands alcohol delivery to Bengal after Jharkhand, Odisha

After Jharkhand and Odisha, food ordering and delivery platform Swiggy on Thursday started home delivery of alcohol in Kolkata and Siliguri and plans to expand to24 other cities across West Bengal.

Swiggy is leveraging its existing technology and logistics infrastructure to ensure all guidelines are maintained including social distancing, a company statement said.

Food ordering platforms have initiated home delivery of alcohol as part of efforts to prevent overcrowding of people at shops amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"Building on our successful launches in Jharkhand and Odisha we will now be enabling safe home delivery of alcohol in West Bengal. Starting with Kolkata and Siliguri, we will expand our services to 24 other cities across the state," a company spokesperson said.

The company is partnering with authorised retailers across major cities after validating their license and other required documents as outlined by the state government.

Retail partners will be equipped with a dedicated partner app that enables all aspects related to online processing of orders, the statement said.

The spokesperson further noted that the company has been working closely with the West Bengal government since the beginning of the lockdown to provide support on multiple fronts including delivering grocery and essentials, seafood items, schoolbooks and distributing close to one lakh meals to the needy in Kolkata.

Both the delivery partners and retailers are being virtually trained through their respective apps to facilitate smooth processing and fulfilment of orders.

Swiggy has implemented multiple safety measures to ensure safe home delivery of alcohol orders.

Customers need to complete an one-time instant age verification by uploading a picture of their valid government ID, followed by a selfie which the platform will use for authentication.

There is also a capping on the order quantity to ensure a customer does not order alcohol above the prescribed limit as per the state's excise law, it said adding that customers in West Bengal can access the 'Wine Shops' category by updating their Swiggy app.