The novel idea for a kind of electronic drinks voucher — or pints-by-text — featured in the Morning Advertiser last week shows how we are still developing the cashless society. But of course, like many of these ideas, there are legal implications.
One of the features of the new Licensing Act was how many old-fashioned laws and prohibitions were simply left out of the legislation: not serving policemen or prostitutes, the 'long pull' and several others, including the restriction on credit sales, were confined to history. In any event, I never held the view that the use of a credit card in a pub offended the restriction because in everyone's eyes the transaction that takes place is a form of payment anyway, whenever the actual money lands in the pub's account.
But almost all science-fiction novels of the past century envisaged a cashless society of the future, with either tokens or trade-offs as the 'currency', certainly not paper money or coins. So, in essence, any scheme providing discount vouchers electronically is part of the move towards payment systems that do not require the clang of a cash register drawer and change on the beer towel.
But does remote payment count as a sale, and at what point? As far as this scheme is concerned, it is really no different from any other discount voucher such as those offered by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) before Christmas and several pub groups throughout the year. It merely means that the voucher can be used towards the cost of a round of drinks by the person actually present and purchasing. It is that person with whom the licensee is transacting and, therefore, the legal elements stay within the pub itself.
But what happens if the scheme develops so that people can actually 'buy' drinks remotely and no transaction takes place at the point of sale? Well, fortunately, the legal principle remains intact — that the sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises actually takes place when the drink is 'appropriated' to the sale, ie, when it is poured and presented. Prior to that, the sale is not completed.
Pay-as-you-go
So it would be possible to build up a credit with the pub and then to take drinks in relation to that credit, rather like you do with a pay-as-you-go mobile phone. There would not need to be a physical payment at the time the round or the single drink was ordered, but there would still need to be some sort of indication that the amount had been deducted, perhaps by means of a paper receipt, but in the future merely by means of a text message or email, as with ordering online.
The problem with which the Government has been wrestling is how to legislate about remote sales in respect of selling to those under age. Currently, there is no fail-safe way to ensure those ordering alcohol online or by phone are over 18, and only face-to-face transactions are covered by the licensing laws. It is not, in fact, illegal to deliver alcohol to an under-18 at the residence of the purchaser, so a child can accept a delivery at the door, whoever bought it.
Whether vouchers in themselves could be classified as an irresponsible drinks promotion seems for the moment to have been kicked into touch and it is unlikely any prosecutions will be launched unless a scheme is likely to lead to serious consumption problems, which to judge from reports is highly unlikely in these economic circumstances. But boosting trade with ideas like this seems to be on the right side of the law.