Owing to the national lockdown, social distancing, and ‘stay at home’ have become the norms. In such times, the availability of alcohol for home delivery is making strides. Moreover, there is a big step in eliminating physical contact by the use of drones for delivery.
Crux of the Matter
Alcohol Delivered Most Indian states prohibit the home delivery of alcohol. One such example is the Bangalore based liquor store Madhuloka, which opened in 1999 and is renowned in the field. However, they have not enabled the home delivery system even in metro cities, a potential revenue booster. After modifying the norms, Dunzo terminated the home delivery of alcohol in Karnataka state in 2018. Dunzo, which is a home delivery firm for food, medicines etc, stated that the move came in light of notice by the state Govt. Wine Of Change There has been an increase in the demand for alcohol after lockdown. However, the opening of liquor shops was condemned as long waiting lines were witnessed where social distancing norms were violated.
#Liquor shops to reopen in #TamilNadu! Supreme Court stays Madras HC order asking government to shut liquor vendshttps://t.co/4xZl6xePe5 pic.twitter.com/BrjImT9duC — FinancialXpress (@FinancialXpress) May 15, 2020
Consequently, home delivery of liquor was permitted in several states. Swiggy and Zomato have started home delivery in Jharkhand and Orissa, with the former also getting to deliver in West Bengal since 4th June. To prevent illegal use, the companies have made a picture of valid Govt ID and selfie mandatory for age checks. Similarly, a limit on orders would be imposed to prevent excessive consumption. Air Delivery At a time when physical contact is discouraged to curb the virus spread, there has been further development in the drone-delivery system. Swiggy, Zomato, and Dunzo have received approval from the Indian government to test the system. The initial testing would be done in a range of 20km in an isolated approved air-space.
The time for delivery drones to rise up is now https://t.co/u9qGrA0iHR pic.twitter.com/YnYrtl49zA — Forbes (@Forbes) April 20, 2020
Across in West, there has been development in the drone-delivery by Prime Air, an initiative of Amazon. Recently, the company hired David Carbon who served as the Boeing 787’s Operations Vice President to “lead the next phase of its mission to bring 30-minute delivery by drones to customers”. Potential Job Loss While the drones would enhance the application of safety norms while keeping the business working, some critics have pointed to a loss of employment by the technology which was already impacted by the lockdown.
Curiopedia
Prime Air is a drone delivery service currently in development by Amazon. The service uses delivery drones manufactured by unnamed entities to autonomously fly individual packages to customers within 30 minutes of ordering. The Amazon Prime Air team worked with NASA on trials using the Amazon air traffic management system.
The term drone was coined in reference to the early remotely-flown target aircraft used for practice firing of a battleship’s guns, and the term was first used with the 1920s Fairey Queen and 1930’s de Havilland Queen Bee target aircraft.
SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd., more popularly known as its trade name DJI, is a Chinese technology company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong with factories throughout the world. DJI is a world-leading manufacturer of commercial drones for aerial photography and videography. DJI is the dominant market leader in the civilian drone industry, accounting for over 70% of the world’s drone market.
Curated Coverage
CNET – Amazon hires Boeing vet to run Prime Air drone delivery unit
The News Minute – Not just Dunzo, all alcohol delivery services may stop in Bengaluru
The Economic Times – Swiggy lays off 1,100 employees as Covid-19 derails Cloud kitchens
The Indian Express – After Jharkhand and Odisha, Swiggy expands alcohol delivery to West Bengal
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