After Jharkhand, Zomato to begin home delivery of alcohol in Odisha

Odisha has become the second state where online restaurant guide and food ordering platform Zomato will be deliver alcohol at home, starting with state capital Bhubaneswar. Zomato first started the servce in Jharkhand. 

Starting with Bhubaneswar, Zomato will soon expand to other cities in Odisha like Rourkela, Balasore, Balangir, Sambalpur, Berhampur, and Cuttack, Zomato said in a statement.

"We're happy to be of service to our users in Odisha who can now use Zomato to get alcohol delivered in addition to grocery and food delivery," Zomato Vice President Rakesh Ranjan said.

The company is working very closely with excise departments to ensure end-to-end compliance with the safety guidelines and is also introducing consumption and identity verification protocols to promote responsible ordering and consumption, he added.

"We are thankful to the Odisha government and the liquor retail industry in enabling safe and compliant delivery of alcoholic beverages in Odisha. We look forward to building this partnership together," Ranjan said.

 On May 21, Zomato and Swiggy had started home delivery of alcohol in Ranchi. File photo 

Zomato has also built several safety processes and checks to ensure the safe delivery of alcohol. There would be age checks at the time of ordering as well as when the product is delivered, the statement said.

Users will be required to upload a valid ID proof to be eligible for orders which would later be verified by the delivery partner at the time of handing over the order. There would also be product category limits to promote responsible ordering, it added.

The service named Zomato Wine Shops would be available on the home page of the Zomato app and will allow users to select any product from the listed retailers and get it delivered right to their doorsteps, Zomato said.

On May 21, Zomato and Swiggy had started home delivery of alcohol in Ranchi and had said they planned to expand it to other cities going forward.