If things go as per plan, wine lovers in the city could soon have a few extra sips from every glass of drink served at the pubs and restaurants serving alcohol.
With no standard measure fixed by the authorities for dispensing wine by glass – unlike whiskey and rum which have standard measure of 30 and 60 ml, the enforcement wing of the Weights and Measures Department of the Delhi Government finds itself handicapped in prosecuting the pub and restaurant owners, who under-serve wine to their customers.
In order to fix the anomaly, now the Department has decided to write to the Union Government to prescribe a standardised measure for serving wine by glass at the watering holes.
“While there is no fixed measure for serving wine by glass, it is assumed that a standard glass of wine contains 120 ml. However, people complain of being under-served. But lack of legal provisions makes prosecution difficult. Now we are writing to Department of Consumer Affairs of the Government of India to prescribe a standardised measure for dispensing wine by glass,” said S.S. Yadav, Secretary (Food, Supplies & Consumer Affairs).
While the country is still to fix measure of wine, western countries have adopted certain measures for serving wine. In the United Kingdom, as per the Weights and Measures (Metric System) Act of 1897, wine may be sold only in 125 (standard), 175 (medium) and 250 ml (large) glasses.
As per the existing rules in India, whiskey and rum are served using standard metallic measures with units of 30 and 60 ml. However, there is no standard measure to serve wine till date.