Chennai: Liquor buyers across Tamil Nadu will pay Rs 10 more on the printed price of every TASMAC bottle from November 1 — and will get that Rs 10 back when they return the empty bottle at any TASMAC outlet in the state, under a new environment cess and bottle-return system announced by the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC).
Source: Mirror Now
The Rs 10 amount will now be included in the maximum retail price (MRP) printed on the bottle itself, instead of being collected separately over the counter. TASMAC staff have been strictly barred from charging anything above the new printed price, and any extra collection will be treated as an unauthorised act open to disciplinary action, the corporation's circular said. Shops have been told to display notices in Tamil and English by October 31 stating that bottles will be sold at the printed price and that Rs 10 will be paid for every returned empty bottle.
Source: UrbanAcres (Dinamalar report)
How the refund will work
A buyer does not have to return the bottle to the shop where it was bought — any TASMAC outlet in Tamil Nadu must accept the empty bottle and pay the Rs 10 refund. Under the Dinamalar report carried by UrbanAcres, the refund will be paid after the bottle's QR code is scanned and verified. TASMAC has asked regional officials to coordinate with banks so that shops have a steady supply of Rs 10 notes and coins for refunds.
To cover the extra workload and storage of empties until a permanent reverse-vending system is set up through a tender, outlets inside Chennai corporation limits will receive Rs 2,000 a day, while shops in other municipal corporations, municipalities and town panchayats will receive between Rs 1,500 and Rs 1,800 a day, according to Mirror Now.
Why the change, and who is unhappy
The system follows an Assembly Bill introduced by Prohibition and Excise Minister K Vignesh that allows an environment cess of up to Rs 20 a bottle; the charge has been fixed at Rs 10 to begin with. Officials said the move was prompted by persistent complaints that buyers were being forced to pay extra at outlets in the name of bottle-collection fees, and that putting the amount inside the official price would standardise the process and end unauthorised surcharges.
The rollout has drawn pushback from staff. D Dhanasekaran, general secretary of the TASMAC Workers' Association, said the daily allowance is not enough to cover the extra manpower and the rented space needed to store empty bottles, and argued the system should have been deferred until a permanent reverse-vending arrangement was finalised, Mirror Now reported.
The revised printed-price and bottle-refund system takes effect across Tamil Nadu on November 1.