Food delivery platform Swiggy has announced that it has begun home delivery of liquor through its app. The new ‘Wine Shops’ category has gone live for users in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela today and will soon expand to other major cities in the state.
According to the company, one can place an order after they have verified their age. This can be done by uploading a picture of their valid government ID, followed by a selfie which the platform will use for authentication. To ensure further safety, all orders will carry a unique OTP which needs to be provided by the customer at the time of delivery.
Swiggy has also said that it is partnering with HyperVerge to enable AI-face recognition for mandatory age verification and user authentication for alcohol deliveries. This additional layer of safety seems like a smart move as it could ensure that the delivery of alcohol is in complete compliance with applicable laws and avoid under-age customers from placing 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. Consistent with Swiggy’s approach, we have leveraged technology to automate the customer verification process and solve an important challenge and support the government with enabling safe deliveries.”
Earlier today, Zomato had also made a similar announcement confirming the rollout of liquor delivery in Odisha starting today. The company had said that users would be able to select any product from the listed retailers and get it delivered to their doorsteps. Zomato has listed licensed retailers under the new service and customers will be able to purchase liquor from 9AM to 6PM as permitted by the state authorities. As of now, the liquor delivery service is currently available in Bhubaneswar, and will soon expand to more cities including Rourkela, Balasore, Balangir, Sambalpur, Berhampur and Cuttack.
Comments
0 comment