CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Ltd (Tasmac) has, in a new advisory, instructed the liquor shops not to keep stock beyond 90 days.
Supervisors have also been instructed to keep the medium range of liquor at a minimum of 40%.
But supervisors complain that district managers, to hide their mistakes, put the burden on the shops under their control. "Only the premium range of liquor, that too those distributed with the distilleries' own brands, end up not being sold beyond 90 days and after the recent price hike, the demand for medium range has also come down," said a Tasmac supervisor on condition of anonymity.
The problem, according to him, is the way Tasmac accounts the sales.
"The stock from the distilleries reach the 43 godowns across the state and then is transferred to outlets. Instead of paying the distilleries after the stock is sold from the outlets, the management considers the stock leaving the godown as sold and promptly makes the payment to them. So, when the stock lies unsold beyond 90 days, it becomes a problem for the district manager." says the supervisor.
N Periyasamy of Tamil Nadu Tasmac Employees' Union says if the stock does not leave the godown beyond 90 days, the distilleries concerned can be fined up to ₹2 per bottle, which senior officers in Tasmac try to avoid to appease them.
"Another problem is distilleries do not supply the brands in demand, but want to promote their own brands to avoid paying royalty to the foreign brand. Tasmac MD L Subramanian was not available for his comment.
