Gujarat : Vapi Car Owners Hire Drivers to Avoid Liquor Cases 

Vapi, Gujarat – Many unemployed youths in Vapi, a Gujarat town sharing borders with the watering hole of the union territory of Daman and Dadra and Nagar Haveli (DNH) are happy these days : Reason: car owners in Vapi are hiring personal drivers solely to them them to bars in Daman or Silvassa and bring them back home safely–dodging the risk of arrest and vehicle seizures. 

With police tightening checks on drunk driving and prohibition violations along the Gujarat-Union Territory border, a new trend of hiring personal drivers is emerging in Vapi, Gujarat.

Due to Gujarat’s stringent prohibition laws, residents often cross into the Union Territories of Daman and Dadra & Nagar Haveli to consume alcohol legally. But returning intoxicated to Gujarat can trigger serious legal trouble. Offenders caught under the influence face steep penalties, including police cases, ₹10,000 fines, and vehicle confiscation.

“Now drivers are paid to wait outside the bar while the owners drink inside,” said one of the hired drivers, who spoke to Bhaskar on condition of anonymity.

“I’ve been working as a driver for eight months. My job is to pick up the owner, take him to Daman, wait two to three hours until he’s done drinking, and then drop him back home,” he said. “If I’m caught drinking myself, I lose the job.”

This workaround is increasingly being adopted by industrialists, traders, and labour contractors, who pay their drivers between ₹10,000 to ₹15,000 per month. The job requires complete sobriety and on-call availability, especially in the evenings.

Another driver explained, “We are mainly hired to avoid drunk and drive cases at checkposts. When police stop us, they test the driver. Since we’re sober, they usually let us go without trouble.”

The Union Territory itself has also cracked down on drunk driving, recently enforcing a ₹10,000 penalty for offenders. This added deterrent is pushing more people to hire drivers as a legal buffer.

“Hiring a driver is a small price compared to the risk of a police case or heavy fine,” said a Vapi-based businessman who admitted to regularly drinking in Daman.

Legal experts confirm this strategy keeps car owners on the safer side of the law—so long as the driver remains sober.

“A drink and drive case is filed only if the person behind the wheel is intoxicated,” explained Anil Tripathi, a government lawyer in Valsad. “If the driver is sober—even if the passenger is drunk—no case is filed.”

However, police vigilance remains high, and officers continue to monitor checkposts near border towns like Vapi, Bhilad, and Bhimpore.