Chennai: Tasmac has issued show-cause notices to at least a dozen salesmen in the city and neighbouring districts, asking them why they should not be suspended for charging customers above the maximum retail price (MRP). Notices were also sent to 600 salesmen and supervisors who delayed opening liquor shops by three hours on Feb 9 as a mark of protest, pressing Tasmac workers’ long-pending demands.
A member of the protest committee said, on condition of anonymity, that they plan to intensify the protest from Wednesday by not opening the shops.Regarding the MRP violation, the accused salesmen have been transferred to Tasmac depots. “They have to reply to the show-cause notice in two weeks. If the reply is not satisfactory, they will be suspended after getting an explanation from them,” said an official source.Four salesmen each from Tiruvallur east, west Tasmac districts and Kancheepuram north district were suspended after a special drive by the flying squad.The govt had launched end-to-end computerisation to curb MRP violations, but these salesmen tampered with QR codes or asked customers to pay an additional 5 to 20 as cash for each bottle at the sales counter. “We caught them red-handed,” said an official. Meanwhile, the protest committee of various Tasmac workers’ unions said sending notices to 600 protesting employees was a threat tactic to weaken their protest for genuine causes. A committee member said they have decided to intensify the protest from Wednesday by not opening the shops. “We thought the Tasmac officials would call us for negotiation as per the chief minister’s instructions. However, the management took an anti-worker stand, which is not fair,” said the member.
