If legalese was the work of the devil, then making the excise rules of any country is what the devil does as experimental R&D for the next level of torture. I exaggerate but the reality remains that when it comes to the excise rules and regulations, to be on the right side of the law would literally require a superpower, one that enables us to defy logic and sound reasoning. But today, we aren’t mulling over the funny archaic laws that govern the flow and distribution of alcohol in our country. Instead, we are going for a more forward-looking approach, trying to gauge the recently introduced changes and amendments to see all that’s wonderful about them.

For the longest time, a chap could vote the next government to power in the world’s largest democracy, get married and have kids, but still needed to wait almost half a decade before being allowed to touch alcohol. It was mostly in the NCR but this ridiculousness nevertheless has been done away with. The reduced age now stands at 21 years, which is almost uniform across the nation and also on a par with various countries globally. Some may counter that 18 would be desirable; for the moment, we need not really complain. It’s never the rule that led to abuse, rather its implementation which left a lot to be desired. Proper age checks with valid national ID is what is needed hereforth.

One good thing that came from this pandemic was that with people staying inside and access to alcohol being restricted, the authorities had to devise a socially distanced way to pave the connecting bridge. Eventually, some state governments (Chhattisgarh for one, Maharashtra too) relented and the delivery of alcohol was made permissible within their borders. The move helped not only reduce congestion at liquor shops, it also brought a whole new sense of civility to the process of buying alcohol. There were rules to be followed—all deliveries had to be done only by in-store employees, for example—but on the whole, it’s brought in a whole lot of convenience. In Maharashtra, e-commerce sites have also cropped up which are finding legal yet innovative ways to reach their clients. Sadly, Delhi remains adamant about not opening up this channel for the moment.

Till a few years ago, light alcoholic beverages (beer, wine, ready-to-drink) could be purchased at local grocery stores (provided they met certain safety norms and space-allocation ratio guidelines). It was brilliant, making buying a bottle of wine for dinner as normal as the cheese, vegetables or steak that would accompany it. Sadly, that rule went away when it was found that many were misusing it. Now, talks are on in Maharashtra to reintroduce this channel but we may have to wait a bit and see.

Overall, we are looking at fewer dry days through the year. At one point, certain states had more than 30 of those in a calendar year which pretty much amount to losing a whole month, no, not of drinking (well, that too), but of sales. With rising taxes, the days of sale have subsequently been increased. Going ahead, most states may have two or three dry days annually. And in certain places, even those ‘days’ end by 6 pm and service can resume afterwards.

On the whole, across the board, from Chennai to Chandigarh, the system seems to be progressively planning and announcing policies that will not only support the small business owners in the field but will also contribute to improving the profile of what we drink, elevating quality while controlling prices from spiralling out of reach.

Delhi recently put forth a very aggressive policy—possibly egged on by the stiff competition they were obviously facing from neighbouring Gurgaon where liquor was almost 30% cheaper across the board—but for the moment, it is still one that favours volume-centric brands (low-end and mass-produced) and the big players with deep pockets. Sadly, it is also pitted against local brands that try to sell to outlets as the latter can only buy local brands in entire cases (which can be costly and blocks up funds) versus foreign brands where bars and restaurants can place an order for even a single bottle. Hopefully, the next cycle will remove these barricades which would then make the capital truly a region to reckon with for its ‘spirited’ quotient.

Other changes that many people in the trade have desired (but wish to remain anonymous) are implementing more procedures online and reducing paperwork, planning quicker processes with fewer clearances and sign-offs, easing the process of flow of product between destinations and creating stronger checks for spurious and illegal liquor. To this, I would add my dream move of allowing local brands to be tax-exempt when moving within the country. Buying local produce will allow us to educate ourselves better about what we are capable of and, believe me, it’s pretty formidable. Giving them easy access to one of the world’s largest concentration of metropolitan populations as their potential client would be the best way to ensuring small local businesses survive and thrive. And in a way that is an act of patriotism all round.

The writer is a sommelier