New Delhi, May 26 (IANS): Foodtech unicorn Zomato on Tuesday announced the start of its alcohol home delivery service in Odisha.

Starting with Bhubaneswar, Zomato said it will soon expand to other cities like Rourkela, Balasore, Balangir, Sambalpur, Berhampur and Cuttack.

"We're happy to be of service to our users in Odisha who can now use Zomato to get alcohol delivered in addition to grocery and food delivery," Rakesh Ranjan, Vice President at Zomato, said in a statement.

"We are working very closely with excise departments to ensure end-to-end compliance to the safety guidelines and are also introducing consumption and identity verification protocols to promote responsible ordering and consumption," Ranjan said.

Users can avail the service from 9 am to 6 pm as permitted by the state authorities, Zomato said, adding that the app will only feature licensed retailers, who have applied for the service.

There would be age checks at the time of ordering as well as when the product is delivered, the company said.

Users will be required to upload a valid ID proof to be eligible for ordering which would later be verified by the delivery partner at the time of handing over the order.

There would also be product category limits to promote responsible ordering, it added.

Swiggy and Zomato last week said they had received permissions to start alcohol home delivery service in Jharkhand.