4 Del. Admin. Code § 507-4.0 - Requirements for Delivery

4.1 Deliveries of alcoholic beverages are limited to 2 750-milliliter bottles of wine with each bottle limited to 750 milliliters, 6 servings of beer, and mixed cocktails which are made in the restaurant, brewpub, tavern, taproom, or other entity with a valid on-premise license that has entered into a delivery agreement with the TPDL. Canned, premixed cocktails are not permitted to be delivered. All on-premise licensees who provide alcoholic beverages for delivery must ensure that the beverages are in sealed containers, securely closed, and in a container that does not include a lid with sipping holes, pursuant to the Delaware Liquor Control Act and the Commissioner's regulations.

4.1.1 TPDL must have a valid, executed written agreement or an independent contractor agreement with an on-premise licensee on file with this Office before the TPDL may make any deliveries of alcoholic beverages.

4.1.2 TPDL must have a valid, executed written employment agreement or an independent contractor agreement with each delivery worker before the delivery worker may make any deliveries of alcoholic beverages.

4.2 Deliveries are prohibited to the following locations:

4.2.1 State-operated facility;

4.2.2 Correction and prison facilities;

4.2.3 Hospital;

4.2.4 Locker mailbox;

4.2.5 Post office box;

4.2.6 Package shipping or storage facility;

4.2.7 Retail licensee licensed by this Office;

4.2.8 All schools, including public, private, and charter schools through and including the 12th grade;

4.2.9 Undergraduate housing at an institution of higher learning;

4.2.10 Vacant home or building;

4.2.11 Locations where alcoholic beverages are otherwise prohibited, such as places of public accommodation, public beaches, etc.; and

4.2.12 Outside of the State of Delaware.

4.3 Process for delivery

4.3.1 TPDL must transmit delivery-related information to delivery workers in real-time and alert them that an order contains an age-restricted alcoholic beverage.

4.3.2 Delivery workers must have a copy of the invoice or bill of sale stating the name and address of the receiving customer and the type, brand, and quantity of each alcoholic beverage being delivered. Each package of alcoholic beverages to be delivered must be clearly marked by the on-premise licensee, in 26-point legible type or larger, "CONTAINS ALCOHOL."

4.3.3 Delivery workers must verify that receiving customers are of legal age and are not visibly intoxicated before delivering alcoholic beverages. At a minimum, this includes electronic verification of a customer's identification as well as observable verification, i.e., "multifactor" verification.

4.3.4 Delivery workers must obtain the signature (electronic or paper) or "finger scan" of the receiving customer before handing over possession of the alcoholic beverages.

4.3.5 Delivery workers must refuse delivery to the customer and return the alcoholic beverage to the on-premise licensee if:

4.3.5.1 The receiving customer is underage or intoxicated;

4.3.5.2 The customer refuses to sign for delivery or to provide a valid and current I.D.;

4.3.5.3 The third-party delivery licensee or its delivery worker doubts the authenticity of the customer's ID;

4.3.5.4 There is reason to suspect the customer is accepting delivery on behalf of an underage person; or

4.3.5.5 Other valid reason as determined by the third-party delivery licensee.

4.3.6 Delivery workers are prohibited from:

4.3.6.1 Collecting payment for the alcoholic beverage from the receiving customer;

4.3.6.2 Subcontracting or delegating to another person the delivery of alcoholic beverages;

4.3.6.3 Delivering alcoholic beverages to prohibited locations identified in subsection 4.2 of this regulation;

4.3.6.4 Leaving alcoholic beverages unattended or storing alcoholic beverages overnight under any circumstances;

4.3.6.5 Delivering alcoholic beverages not identified in an invoice from the on-premise licensee who is the merchant of record for the delivery; and

4.3.6.6 Engaging in no-contact deliveries without face-to-face interaction with the receiving customer.

4.3.7 The TPDL shall ensure all deliveries by its delivery workers occur only during the hours of operation of the on-premise licensee with whom it has contracted to deliver alcoholic beverages.

4.4 The third-party delivery licensee may receive a fixed fee as defined in Section 2.0 of this regulation for its delivery services.

4.5 The third-party delivery licensee does not have any retail sales privileges and therefore cannot charge a commission or receive a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of alcoholic beverages.

4.5.1 The on-premise licensee must retain control of all aspects of alcoholic beverage commerce, including product selection, pricing, and collecting the sales proceeds.

4.5.2 The Commissioner, upon request, may approve the third-party delivery licensees and on-premise licensees to use an integrated third-party payment processing platform (e.g., Stripe.com, Square.com or other platform) to aggregate their charges and bifurcate and remit the proceeds as appropriate (i.e., on-premise licensee is promptly remitted payment for sale of alcohol and third-party delivery licensee is remitted the fixed fee for the delivery of alcohol). The portion of the payment attributable to the alcoholic beverage purchase must be promptly remitted by the payment processing platform directly to the on-premise licensee, defined to mean the remittance would take place within 72 hours of the sales transaction.

4.6 The TPDL is prohibited from:

4.6.1 Selling or reselling alcoholic beverages; and

4.6.2 Setting the prices of alcoholic beverages or determining which beverages are available for delivery.

Notes

4 Del. Admin. Code § 507-4.0

28 DE Reg. 743 (4/1/2025) (Final)