The Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Ltd. (Tasmac) has introduced an automatic liquor dispensing machine at an Elite shop housed inside a mall in Chennai.
Sources in Tasmac said this would help curb overcharging at counters, a common complaint. As soon as the consumer touches the machine, a menu pops up and consumers can choose the liquor they want and then make the payment and the machine dispenses the bottle.
Sources said this was being done on a pilot basis and the government is yet to decide on how this would be implemented in other places. The automated machine will charge only MRP rates.
Asked about how secure the machine was to prevent those below the age of 18 from buying, officials said it was only a pilot project within an Elite shop and improvements would take time.