CHENNAI: You can pay with your debit or credit card at
Tasmac
wine shops, but you’ll still be charged more than the maximum retail price.
The staff at these shops have perfected a system to overcharge customers by tallying cash sales with those made using point of sale (PoS) machines. For instance, if a consumer buys a brandy bottle with an MRP of Rs 960, it billed as Rs 1,000 through the PoS machine. The payment through card goes directly to the official bank account. When another customer purchases the same bottle by cash, again paying Rs1,000, it is recorded as Rs. 920 in the ledger book, and the staff keep Rs. 80.
At the end of the day Tasmac accounts will tally as it only looks at total revenue from liquor sold, not the revenue from each bottle. Had bills been issued and each verified separately, the scam would not work. But whether it is the elite shops or the neighbourhood vend, customers do not get bills. Those who ask for them are shooed away.
A visit by TOI tot two elite shops at GN Chetty Road and Nungambakkam revealed that the outlets sold premium Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and imported liquor at Rs20 to Rs100 more than the MRP, depending on the brands. Asked about the excess rates, an employee at one of the shops said that the MRP printed on the bottle cover was the older rate. Ironically, liquor prices were revised in May this year.
Responding to a public interest writ petition filed in the Madras High Court to ensure that liquor is not sold above the MRP, Tasmac five months ago informed the court that it was not charging extra.
N Periyasamy, state president of Tasmac Employees Union affiliated to AITUC, said that billing before buying liquor bottles, a system followed in Kerala, would prevent
overcharging
to a large extent.
Commissioner of prohibition and excise, D. Mohan, who holds additional charge as Tasmac managing director, did not respond to TOI queries on MRP violations.