Could States’ idea to allow doorstep alcohol delivery be profitable? | Explained

States consider doorstep alcohol delivery to increase revenue and reduce drunk-driving, but health and safety concerns remain.

The States of Delhi, Karnataka, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Goa, and Kerala are or were mulling plans to allow the doorstep delivery of alcohol through platforms like Swiggy, BigBasket, and Zomato.

India has seen a steady rise in alcohol consumption. The recorded per capita consumption has increased from 1.6 litres in 2003-2005 to 2.2 litres in 2010, then to 5.5 litres in 2016-2018. With $52 billion in revenue, India is the sixth-largest alcohol market worldwide. According to a Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment survey in 2019, there were about 16 crore alcohol users in India in the 10-75 year age group in 2018. About 5.7 crore frequently consumed alcohol leading to social or interpersonal problems and 2.9 crore were dependent users requiring therapeutic intervention.

Medically, the safe limit for alcohol consumption is zero millilitres. Alcohol use causes 3 lakh deaths in India every year.

There are two main arguments in favour of doorstep delivery of alcohol. First, the excise taxes on alcohol sales can help generate revenue for Central and State governments. This in turn can be used for the public good.

Across States, taxes on alcohol sales can contribute up to a quarter of all revenue generated for governments.

Second, doorstep delivery can help reduce drunk-driving incidents and prevent road traffic crashes and injuries. In India, 6-48% of fatal road traffic fatalities are due to alcohol use. Reducing them is thus crucial.

A third argument is that doorstep deliveries may not threaten the safety of women consumers. There is some evidence from Kerala that shutting bars selling hard liquor reduced on-premise violence against women. Doorstep delivery options might have a similar effect, especially for women who live alone or with other women.