Tasmac cracks down on overcharging, suspends 67 employees

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

The Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac) has taken disciplinary action against its employees for overcharging customers at liquor outlets. It has suspended 67 employees for selling liquor above the prescribed Maximum Retail Price (MRP).

The crackdown has covered all major regions, with employees from the Chennai, Madurai, Tiruchi, Salem, and Coimbatore regions among those suspended. The move comes amid growing complaints of customers being charged more than the printed price at State-run liquor shops.

“In a stringent warning, the Corporation has decided that even a single instance of overcharging could result in the suspension of the entire unit (all workers in a shop). We will continue this until the practice is brought to an end,” a source in Tasmac said.

On Wednesday, squads were sent to check, and based on their feedback and consumer complaints, action was taken, he added. The exercise will continue in the coming days.

“Earlier, employees had said they were collecting extra money to meet shop expenses. The government has now taken steps to address employees’ concerns over low salaries — by increasing their pay and accepting their key demands. With these issues addressed, the continued collection of money above the MRP is unacceptable,” the source said.

As on July 2026, Tasmac has 4,048 retail vending shops and a workforce of 22,877 (6,473 supervisers, 14,379 salespersons, and 2,025 assistant salespersons). For the year 2025-2026, the cash cow of the Tamil Nadu government earned revenues of ₹50,845 crore, a record-high.

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.