Amazon And Bigbasket May Soon Deliver Alcohol In West Bengal

The novel coronavius outbreak and consequent lockdown had started a conversation about online sale of alcohol. While you can order non-alcoholic beverages and other accouterments that can be used to make drinks from Amazon, there were not a lot of options to be had in the past.

More recently, restaurant aggregator apps Swiggy and Zomato have begun alcohol home deliveries in a limited number of cities. The services follow all lockdown restrictions that are in place, and customers have to provide ID proof before they can receive their orders.

But it would seem that the foodtech unicorns now have some competition. As per a Reuters report, Amazon has secured clearance to deliver alcohol in West Bengal. As per a notice by the West Bengal State Beverages Corporation, Amazon and Bigbasket have won approval to deliver liquor to homes in the eastern state.

The government body which handles authorisations for online retail of liquor trade in West Bengal has reportedly invited Amazon to sign a memorandum of understanding with the state.

Each state sets its own alcohol sales policy. West Bengal last month invited companies to express interest for “handling electronic ordering, purchase, sale and home delivery of alcoholic liquors from licensed retail outlets” to eligible legal-age consumers in the state.