MADURAI: Citing delay in payment, milk agents have urged Aavin to allow them deduct their commission before depositing the daily sales collection. According to Aavin officials, there are 900 agents in Madurai district.
K Rupan, a milk agent, said “We get a commission of Rs 1 for one litre of milk (all types), and Rs 4 for one litre (Tea Mate) sold. Aavin releases the commission only by the second week of every month. So, we request Aavin to allow us to deduct the commission on a daily basis, like it is done by agents in Chennai, and deposit the collection amount.”
Tamil Nadu Milk Agents and Workers welfare association founder president SA Ponnusamy said Aavin follows different selling methods in each district. For example, Aavin divisions in Erode, Namakkal, Tiruchi sell products directly to agents for commission of 5%.
“If milk is sold for Rs 60 per litre, agents get Rs 3. But, they pay directly to Aavin and later get commission. But this is totally different from Aavin (Chennai), where wholesale dealers buy from Aavin and sell to agents. Here, Aavin gives Rs 2.50 for every litre and the wholesaler takes Rs 1.20,” he said.
He added,”We get Rs 1.50 per litre which is more than what wholesalers get as commission. There are 55 milk wholesalers who control the distribution of milk in Chennai. Each wholesale supplier gets 50,000 litres every day to supply to agents. And they also get fuel charges for delivery of agents.”
A top official from Aavin (Madurai) said “In Madurai, the average per day sale of milk is 1.97 lakh litres. One section of agents prefers monthly remittance, and part-time agents refuse every day deduction as they sell just 100-200 litres per day. Daily deduction method is tedious for them. So, they prefer a monthly commission payment.”