After a gap of more than three months, liquor shops would reopen and counter sale of liquor is all set to resume in the State from Wednesday.
In exercise of power conferred by Section 93 of the Odisha Excise Act 2008, the Government hereby allows counter sale of FMFL, IMFL, wine, beer, RTD in the licensed IMFL Off and On shops in addition to home delivery of these items from July 1, 2020,” stated a notification issued by the Excise Department.
However, opening hours of the shops have been rescheduled to avoid massing of evening crowd. The shops would remain open from 7 am to 6 pm. The online delivery of liquor would also continue as usual.
The On shops would be allowed to operate as Off shops for the purpose of counter sale. “This will increase the number of outlets and will, thus, help in checking overcrowding. ‘On’ shop licensees will have to follow MRP and other norms applicable for Off shops,” the department said.
In order to regulate crowds at the shops, an online system for generation of e-token for slot booking has been developed by the Odisha State Beverage Corporation with the help of NIC for taking prior appointment to visit the shops.
Retailers have to ensure that consumers take prior appointment to visit their premises with the help of above facility to avoid overcrowding. The customers have to visit OSBC portal (www.osbc.co.in) under the link “e-token for slot booking”. The e-token generated can be downloaded from the link received through SMS in the mobile.