Tasmac begins online bookings, but shops see technical snags, long queues
Online liquor sales of the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac) kicked off across the State on Friday, recording around 700 bookings on the first
Online liquor sales of the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac) kicked off across the State on Friday, recording around 700 bookings on the first day, with sources indicating that liquor worth nearly ₹7 lakh had been sold through the platform. The figures are based on data available as of Friday evening. However, salesmen at the shops said they faced several challenges on the first day. Technical snags left machines hanging for long time, disrupting regular counter sales. In a few cases, bottles were found broken at the time of pick-up. ‘Process was slow’ S. Suraj, a customer who booked liquor online, said: “I booked a particular brand online and made the payment, but the booking process took time.
I could have simply gone to the counter and picked up the bottles. That would have been much quicker.” Another customer pointed out that when he went to the outlet to pick up his order, he found that one of the bottles was broken. In this case, the box had not been opened for almost six months, and the salesmen did not notice the broken bottle inside. At one shop, a salesman said the machines repeatedly got stuck while the queue at the regular counter continued to grow. “It was really difficult to manage the situation. Each shop should have a dedicated person handling online orders, similar to restaurants that have separate staff to manage food delivery orders,” he suggested.
Age verification Another customer said there should be a mechanism to verify the buyer’s age, such as uploading an ID proof online and requiring the same ID to be produced at the time of pickup. The website mentions that users must be at least 21 years old to use the service and asks them to enable location access. Once enabled, the page displays a shop locator and stock details. Users can select their district from a drop-down menu and search for the product they want. The available inventory is then displayed. Users can add the product to their cart, enter their details, and complete the verification process using an OTP sent to their registered mobile number.
Payment must then be made online, with only UPI payments currently accepted. The Tasmac portal also has a new grievance section where consumers can lodge complaints about MRP violations, product quality, staff behaviour, shop infrastructure, and stock availability. Supporting photographic evidence can also be submitted through the portal. Tasmac, the cash cow of the Tamil Nadu government, generates around ₹150 crore from liquor sales every day through its retail network.
The BriefWire