TASMAC employees protest against liquor bottle buyback scheme in Tamil Nadu

Serious obstacles have emerged in the implementation of the new 'buyback' scheme by the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), which provides refunds on empty liquor bottles. On the very first day of the scheme's implementation, several retail outlets remained closed without any prior notice, causing difficulties in the rollout of the plan.

According to a report by The Hindu, TASMAC has increased the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of all types of liquor bottles by ₹10 from November 1, 2026. This additional amount has been termed as an 'environment cess'. Under this new arrangement, customers will be eligible to receive a refund of ₹10 when they return empty bottles to the retail shop.

However, the scheme is being opposed by the employees. The employees have cited two primary reasons for this protest. First, technical glitches are being observed in the Point-of-Sale (POS) machines. Second, there is insufficient space available in the shops to store the returned empty bottles. This situation has raised questions about the corporation's preparations for implementing the new system.

Against the backdrop of this controversy, there has been a long-standing practice of charging ₹10 more than the MRP. This practice had remained controversial at TASMAC outlets. Successive governments had issued directives to ban this practice, yet it continued. Employees claimed that this extra money was used to cover costs related to bottle breakage, internet charges, and other miscellaneous expenses.

Currently, after the coalition led by TVK took power, this issue has been strictly investigated. As a result, the government has issued strict guidelines and employees charging more than the MRP have been suspended. It was only after this strict action that TASMAC announced the environment cess and buyback scheme, but now the scheme is in trouble due to the employees' protest.