The Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) has decided to introduce point of sale (POS) machines to enable customers to swipe their cards for purchases, reported The New Indian Express.

Post demonetisation, TASMAC sales in the state have gone down by 15 percent. The POS machines will be first introduced in Chennai and later in Coimbatore, Madurai and Trichy.

There are about 6300 TASMAC shops in Tamil Nadu, which collect around Rs 85 core by selling IMFL (Indian-made foreign liquor). In the last two-and-half weeks, TASMAC has faced a loss of Rs 216 crore. TASMAC is the main source of income for the government, so the authorities have decided to introduce POS machines.

A senior official told The New Indian Express that initially the machines will be installed on a rental basis at shops where more customers come with credit or debit cards. He added that first it will be installed in South Chennai and in all upmarket places. Later, it will be extended to tier II cities.

The officials are contemplating over the total cost of this move as one percent of Maximum Retail Price (MRP) will go to the banks for renting out these machines. 

Currently, POS machines are available at 26 mall shops known as Elite TASMAC stores and a few of them became dysfunctional last week.

The authorities also believe that once these machines are installed, the TASMAC employees won’t be able to overcharge customers.