Counter Sale Of Liquor In Odisha From July 1

Representative Picture

Bhubaneswar: The state government on Tuesday announced that licensed OFF and On liquor shops can sell IMFL across the counter from July 1.

The shops will remain open from 7 am to 6 pm to avoid crowd at night, an order of  Excise department said. At the same time, home delivery of the liquor will continue, it added.

The order also allowed the ON shops to function as OFF shops to increase the number of outlets and avoid overcrowding. These shops will follow the MRP and other norms applicable for the OFF shops.

The OSBC has also developed an online system for generation of e-token for taking prior appointment to visit the shops. It can acessed at OSBC portal http://osbc.co.in under the link “e-token for slot booking”.

The retailers have been told to erect barricades, if necessary to provent overcrowding and engage more manpower to ensure social distancing. Besides, they have to ensure that their staff use face masks on duty and proper marking outside their counters.

The shop-owners have been directed not to entertain the customers not using face mask or violating the social distancing. They have to carry out sanitization of the shop premises frequently, the order stated.