Bhubaneswar: Tension prevailed outside several wine shops in the Capital city Monday following confusion over offline sale of liquor.
The liquor shops here opened their shutters, Monday, after a gap of over two months when the state government allowed online sale of liquor. The wine shops were Saturday asked to make home delivery of their products after taking the orders online through WhatsApp, phone or through food aggregators like Zamato and Swiggy.
However, denizens in huge numbers were seen making beelines before the liquor shops to buy liquor offline Monday morning. Most of the buyers alleged the Excise department’s casual approach as the main reason behind the confusion. The phone numbers of wine shops appearing on the website of the Odisha State Beverages Corporation (OSBC) for online order were found switched off, alleged the buyers.
Meanwhile, the food aggregators did not start their service due to the unresolved issue between wine shop owners and the aggregators over profit sharing. “The liquor shop owners are unhappy over the condition set by the aggregators that have planned to give the profit share after three days of transaction,” said a shop owner on condition of anonymity.
The situation turned chaotic as people in large numbers started demanding liquor as soon as the employees entered the wine shops.
The shops at many places were found selling liquor offline flouting the order of the state government. The shops had to open to facilitate online sale of liquor.
However, chaos prevailed near liquor shops when shop owners failed to control huge crowd gathered at the shops for offline purchase of wine. Subsequently, police reached the spot and resorted to mild baton-charge to disperse the crowd. Later, the shop owners held a meeting with DCP Anup Sahoo at his office Monday afternoon. The DCP asked the owners to not open the shops till 1pm in the afternoon. They were directed to receive the orders at home till 1pm and later make home delivery of the products till 6pm.
The DCP also assured security for the staff who will deliver the products to the buyers at home.
