Spirits run low as a glass of tipple costs more

CHENNAI: In a sudden move, the prices of spirits and beer were hiked by the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) on Monday, triggering unruly scenes and altercations at liquor outlets across the State, with tipplers entering into arguments with the salesmen there.The price hike hit the salesmen at the shops like a bolt from the blue as they came to know of it only around 3 pm. Since they were instructed to implement the revised price structure immediately, many salesmen pulled down the shutters to take an inventory of the stocks, earning the ire of many customers.When the shops re-opened, the customers were in for a shock as the were asked to pay Rs 20 more for a full bottle of spirit and Rs 5 for a bottle of beer. Those buying half-bottles had to shell out Rs 10 more and quarter-bottles cost Rs 5 more, irrespective of the brand and type of spirit.The mid-day price change even led to the manhandling of some salesmen by angry customers, according to a TASMAC employee in Virudhunagar. Unable to handle angry customers and to protest the sudden price hike, many salesmen downed shutters again.The CITU-affiliated union of TASMAC employees said salesman were being asked to pay the corporation the revised rates for the bottles that were sold between 10 am and 3 pm.The price revision—the earlier rates were fixed on October 1, 2009—is expected to earn an additional revenue of Rs 1390 crore per annum for TASMAC, said another union office-bearer.