Tamil Nadu bans private retail trade in liquor
Chennai: The Tamil Nadu state government has decided to do abolish private retail trade in liquor and grant exclusive privilege of retail vending to the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation, a government agency, and the cooperatives. The state government has promulgated an ordinance to this effect, says an official press release. This decision has been taken to eliminate the cartels from distorting the retail trade, and to prevent the sale of contraband, non-duty paid and spurious liquor. The move is also aimed at preventing malpractices like violation of maximum retail price indulged in by the private retailers, all of which ultimately affect the public and the state's revenues.

The release said private retailers have been indulging in various malpractices in the sale of liquor. The government had taken steps to prevent these malpractices and had announced a new system of selecting applicants based on merit for the Excise Year 2003-04 to run retail shops. The government has prescribed that only one licence be given to an applicant in an attempt to break cartels. Despite the fact that a large number of persons had purchased application forms, only a few completed applications had been received by 13 October, which was the deadline set for submitting the forms.
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