Zomato, Swiggy start home-delivery of alcohol in Odisha; here's how to order online if age permits

On-demand delivery platforms--Zomato and Swiggy, have now announced that they will start delivering alcohol in Odisha starting today.

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

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.

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"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.

Swiggy said its online processing and home delivery of alcohol is being done through the ‘Wine Shops’ category in Odisha. It went live in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela today after obtaining necessary approvals from the Odisha government, with other major cities in the state to follow during the week.

Zomato said it is working very closely with excise departments to ensure end-to-end compliance to 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.

Zomato has also built several safety processes and checks to ensure 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.

How to place orders

Customers need to complete an instant age verification by uploading a picture of their valid government ID

there would be age checks at the time of ordering as well as when the product is delivered

All orders will carry a unique OTP which needs to be provided by the customer at the time of delivery.

There would also be product category limits to promote responsible ordering.

To avail this service, customers in Odisha can access the ‘Wine Shops’ category by updating their Swiggy app.

The service named Zomato Wine Shops would be available on the home page of the Zomato app

Age verification, authentication needed

Swiggy has partnered with HyperVerge to enable AI-face recognition for mandatory age verification and user authentication for alcohol deliveries. The integrated solution instantly digitises the customer's ID card, checks if the customer's selfie matches with the picture on the ID card, and then checks for selfie's liveness, i.e. if the customer is really present or if it is a photo of a photo. This additional layer of safety ensures that delivery of alcohol is in complete compliance with applicable laws and avoids under-age customers from placing the orders.

Speaking about the launch of the service in Odisha, a Swiggy spokesperson said, “Over the course of the last two months, Swiggy has stepped up to support the state government and citizens of Odisha by ensuring convenience through home deliveries of food, groceries and essentials. After successfully launching alcohol delivery in Jharkhand, we are expanding our services to Odisha, starting with Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. Cuttack and Berhampur will follow in the next couple of days. We have leveraged technology to automate the customer verification process and solve an important challenge and support the government with enabling safe deliveries.”

Swiggy is partnering with authorised retailers across major cities after validating their license and other required documents as outlined by the state government. Both the delivery partners and retailers are being virtually trained to facilitate smooth processing and fulfillment of orders, the company said in a statement.

Rakesh Ranjan, Vice President at Zomato, said, "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. We are working very closely with excise departments to ensure end-to-end compliance to the safety guidelines and are also introducing consumption and identity verification protocols to promote responsible ordering and consumption. 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.”

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.