Chennai: Madras High Court on Wednesday permitted opening of Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) shops with certain guidelines/restrictions which included that Aadhaar card is mandatory to purchase liquor. Besides, liquor shops in Chennai are not allowed to open as of now and an individual will only be allowed to make purchase once in three days.
According to the guidelines issued by the High Court, the Bill of liquor sale should include the name, address and Aadhaar number of the customer.
The Court said that the liquor outlets who would violate the guidelines will be forced to shut their shops and will not be allowed to be reopened, except by the specific orders of the Court.
Limits On Alcohol Purchase At A Time
- Adding to the prohibition on bulk sales, the Court has said that “not more than two bottles of 750 ml each (including wine, beer etc.) of any one type will be sold to one customer at a time.”
- Those paying through approved online modes may purchase two bottles a day as detailed above.
- Those without mobile/smart phones or online payment apps can purchase only one bottle a day.
- The customer cannot make purchase of liquor more than twice a week and with a minimum gap of three days.
Cash Payment Prohibited Unless Customer Does Not Have Digital Pay Facilities
- To avoid unnecessary malpractices of overcharging through cash payments and to encourage digital payment, the payment for liquor purchase should be made through approved E-payment applications like RuPay, Bhim, Google Pay etc. which can be made available to all smart phone holders and easily assumed in shops.
- The Court added “the payment through these banking channels will not only keep a track and check on the sale of liquor, but is also likely to prevent those who do not intend to pay through known and approved sources.”
- To encourage digital payment and online booking, the Court has also directed that those who book liquor and make the online payment will be permitted to buy up to two bottles of one type of liquor a day.
- Those who do not make online payments and who do not book orders online, as they may not have such mobile phone facilities, will be allowed to purchase only one bottle of 750ml in a day based on the tokens issued to them.
- Cash payment is prohibited save for those who do not have mobile facilities to make online payment. This was in view of a submission that there were over 7,000 MRP violations booked by the State in the last ten months.
- The Court also noted that cash payment would not be a justified course of action in COVID-19 times.
- The State of Tamil Nadu and the TASMAC authorities have also been directed to consider online methods of liquor sale with online payment, by employing the issuance of online tokens coupled with time slots for purchase. This was suggested as a measure to avoid unnecessary crowding in TASMAC/liquor outlets.
Other directions include the Court’s reiteration that bars attached to retail vending shops will not be permitted to function. The entry point to such bars will be closed and sealed. Drinking liquor in public places is prohibited.
Further the Court has also emphasised that the liquor sale should be in strict compliance with the Government notifications already issued, which lays down precautionary measures including, inter alia,
- Measures for crowd management,
- Social distancing,
- Prohibition on more than 5 persons at a time in the shop,
- Shop timings being limited to 10 am-5 pm,
- That shop personnel wear triple layer masks and sanitise their hands,
- There should be no bulk sales,
- That a token system has to be followed,
- That a public address system must be put in place etc.
With Inputs from barandbench.com
Ms Kalinga