As TASMAC outlets in Chennai remain closed due to the lockdown, the liquor shops on the outskirts of the city are reportedly overcharging the customers. According to a report in the Times of India, though the state government, which enjoys a monopoly over liquor sales in Tamil Nadu through the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), told the Madras High Court that it was not charging anything over the MRP (maximum retail price) for liquor, the reality is far from the claim.
The liquor outlets in the outskirts of Chennai reportedly charge anywhere between Rs 50 and Rs 200 per 750 ml-bottle of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) over the MRP printed on it. Since sales are done in a hurry, with customers often buying alcohol in bulk, the overcharging goes unchecked, the report added.
TASMAC owns and operates around 5,300 liquor outlets in the state, including its premium outlets named ‘Elite’, bringing in around Rs 90 crore as revenue per day to the state exchequer. Chennai and its outskirts have around 31 Elite outlets apart from several normal liquor outlets. Earlier reports also stated that during summer, these outlets sell around 1.6 lakh cases of IMFL and 90,000 cases of beer in the state. Due to its revenue-generating capacity, the TASMAC has become the ‘cash cow’ for the state government over the years.
In 2019-20, TASMAC raked in at least Rs 30,000 crore as revenue, including Rs 210 crore revenue generated by its outlets in a six-hour window in March 2020, just before the state went into the coronavirus lockdown. On March 21, a revenue of Rs 220 crore was reported in TASMAC outlets across the state due to the announcement of Janata Curfew on March 22.
Though the government of Tamil Nadu had opened the TASMAC outlets as early as the second week of May, the Madras High Court intervened and ordered the closure of the outlets as the number of COVID-19 cases in the state was on the rise. However, TASMAC outlets, except those falling under the limits of the Chennai City police, have been allowed to function since the first week of July from 10 am to 8 pm.