The entire country saw thousands of people rushing to streets and gathering in serpentine queues since Monday when the government allowed sale of liquor in the several cities. There was a complete violation of social distancing in front of many shops in Delhi.

Following this, all liquor shops that were operational in East Delhi had to be shut down after a few hours.

In order to maintain the norms of social distancing, Delhi government has launched an e-token system for the sale of liquor in the national capital.


Going by an official statement released on Thursday, authorities stated that "Delhi Government has launched an e-token system (demo token in pic) for the sale of liquor in the national capital. This decision has been taken in view of crowding at liquor shops so that social distancing can be maintained. A web link has been issued for the same"

Delhi has 864 liquor shops of which, only 172 government-owned shops have been allowed to operate. At least 475 shops are owned by government departments ranging from tourism to industrial and infrastructure development. The other 389 are owned by private individuals and enterprises.

A day after the sale of liquor was allowed across country prompting huge crowds gathering at the wine shops, the Delhi government decided to charge 70 per cent special corona fee on the bottle MRP, making booze expensive in the national capital.

The move was taken up as a boost for the government revenue, which was hit hard due to the coronavirus-forced lockdown.