Key Facts

Contract workers of the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) shut liquor outlets across the state on Sunday, 1 November 2026, in protest against new measures meant to curb overcharging above the MRP, namely mandatory empty-bottle collection and digital payments. TASMAC sells about ₹165 crore of liquor a day, rising to about ₹265 crore on Sundays. Under the new system, bottles are scanned three times, and an additional ₹10 environmental cess, previously collected separately, is now included in the MRP and is returned when the empty bottle is handed back; cash payment for a single purchase is also capped at ₹1,000. Workers cited slow handheld scanners and lack of ₹10 notes and coins for refunds. Prohibition and Excise Minister K. Vignesh said show-cause notices will be issued to staff who did not report to work, and the government would not bow to pressure.

GK Context

The Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation was set up in 1983 and holds a wholesale and retail monopoly over liquor sales in the state. A deposit-refund system charges a small refundable deposit on a bottle and returns it when the empty is brought back, encouraging recycling and reducing litter, a measure aligned with Extended Producer Responsibility under the Plastic Waste Management Rules and the state's earlier schemes to curb littering in hill areas such as the Nilgiris.