COIMBATORE: The empty liquor bottle buyback scheme implemented by the TASMAC in Coimbatore and Perambalur districts in the second phase has failed to get the desired results with many shops not implementing the scheme by pasting the hologram stickers on the bottle.
Only in Nilgiris, where the scheme was first introduced, did the scheme manage to get good response due to strict implementation. The district reported 95% bottle collections on an average.
In 2022, Madras High Court directed the TAMAC authorities to implement liquor bottle buyback scheme in the Nilgiris to protect the environment in the Western Ghats and the scheme was rolled out on May 15. Later, the court directed TASMAC to extend the scheme to other districts in the State. Based on the directive, in the second phase the scheme was implemented in Coimbatore and Perambalur and later extended to Kanyakumari, Theni, Dharmapuri, Tiruvarur, and Nagapattinam districts.
Under this scheme, TASMAC outlets will collect Rs 10 extra in addition to the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) from the customer for every liquor bottle, and they can get the money back by returning the empty bottles in the shops.
A random check by TNIE in Coimbatore found that in many shops TASMAC employees are not pasting the hologram on the bottles and they also did not collect `10 extra from the customers. Also, no FL2 outlets in Coimbatore have followed the system so far since it was rolled out in April 2023.
Employees working in TASMAC outlets said, the district TASMAC officials have orally instructed them not to paste hologram stickers and to match empty bottles taken from the bars attached to that particular outlet to show that the scheme was implemented.
Employees claimed that due to the heavy workload in shops, they could not paste hologram stickers on bottles collected from customers.
A TASMAC supervisor from Olumbus in Coimbatore said, “In the initial days, we pasted hologram stickers. However, we could not manage sales due to a shortage of employees. Also, the shop has no additional space to keep the collected bottles. Having no option, we could not do it daily.”
A John, secretary of the TASMAC employees’ association affiliated to CITU, admitted that the bottle collection was a failure in the district.
He pointed out that lack of manpower, and space, intervention by bar contractors, and late collection by contractors, who have got permission to collect empty bottles, are reasons for the failure. “The empty bottle buyback scheme will not give good results unless these problems are rectified,” he said.
The situation remains the same in Perambalur district as well. A member of the Tamil Nadu Government TASMAC Employees Association, on condition of anonymity said, “Empty Liquor Bottle Buyback Scheme was a total failure in Perambalur. There is no manpower to stick stickers on the liquor bottles. However, we stick stickers on bottles with daily wagers. But it didn’t yield the desired result. Only 60 percent of the bottles sold in TASMAC outlets in the district were returned to the outlets. However, the account is adjusted here daily.”
Minister of Prohibition and Excise S Muthusamy told TNIE, “The department is implementing the ‘buyback’ scheme as per the Madras High Court direction. The scheme will be extended to all districts in the state by this September. There are few hiccups in the implementation of the system. We are trying to resolve it by having an interaction with the employees’ unions.”
(With input from P Thiruselvam @ Perambalur)