Liquor in Tamil Nadu will cost more from Monday morning. Government-owned Tasmac has decided to raise the prices of all brands of liquor, barring beer. The increase would vary from Rs35 to Rs50 for a ‘full’ bottle of liquor depending on the brand, official sources told Deccan Chronicle.
They said the increase in the price of popular brands of ‘quarter’ bottles would be around Rs5.
The decision to hike the prices was taken following information that sales personnel in Tasmac shops were not returning the ‘change’ to customers and were pocketing the money under the pretext of non-availability of small change at the shop cashier.
“Rather than letting the staff rob the customers in this fashion, it was decided that we could officially increase the rates by rounding off the price to the next `10,” a senior official said.
Another reason, he said, was that the liquor suppliers were pressuring Tasmac for increasing procurement prices as they had not been given any hike since the last revision in 2007.
According to Tasmac sources, the government earned Rs18,081 crore from the sale of liquor last year. “We expect the figure to touch Rs22,190 this year. This increase takes into account the natural rise of 10 per cent in the tippler population and also the present hike in prices,” an official said.