After six hours delay from the expected launch at 5pm, Kerala's much-awaited app for online orders of alcohol, BevQ, went live on Wednesday evening at around 11pm.
Some users were still unable to see it on the Play Store, however, but over 10,000 have already downloaded it.
Kerala is set to start liquor sales on Thursday at 9am and continue till 5pm, while tokens to buy alcohol via the app would be available between 6am and 10am on May 28. There will be no home delivery.
However, as of Wednesday night, the vast majority of users were reporting being unable to receive the OTP to complete the registration procedure. A flurry of one-star reviews quickly ensued as irate app users complained of not receiving the OTP even after the five minute time-period had ended.
The app, developed by Faircode Technologies Private Limited, is a virtual queue management system for the Kerala State Beverages Corporation.
The Kerala government had given the nod to restart liquor sales through 1,168 outlets (877 selling hard liquor and 291 selling wine and beer) in the state from May 28, which was stopped after the first phase of COVID-19 lockdown began in March.
The Bev Q app will allow users to make online bookings and get virtual tokens, using which liquor could be purchased from the prescribed outlet or bars. Manorama reported that users needed to input just the mobile number and pin code. The app can service 4.8 lakh tokens in a day.
Those who make bookings through SMS, will receive the token code as a text message. This code also should be checked by the licence holder with his app before the sales. The consumer can select the brand at the outlet and make the payment.
Customers who place orders through the virtual queue app will receive a token with a QR code on their mobile phone. The bar licensee has to verify this e-token with another app and sell the liquor to the customer.
One can buy maximum three litres of liquor.
A customer can use the Bev Q app only once in five days. At any given time, only five people will be allowed to stand in queue in front of the outlet counter. Those standing in the queue will have to strictly adhere to social distancing norms. Sanitisers and water will also be made available in front of the outlets.
Meanwhile, a similar app on Google Play, named 'Bev Q - BEVCO Online Booking Guide's' attracted over 50,000 downloads already, with most users mistaking it for the real Bev Q app.
