Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay announced a statewide crackdown on alleged leakages, unofficial collections and "party fund" practices in connection with the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC). Addressing his first cabinet meeting on Friday, he ordered money generated by liquor sales must reach the state treasury.

Government sources informed Vijay that nearly Rs 102 crore was diverted, allegedly each month, through unofficial "party fund" collections embedded with TASMAC operations, NDTV reported. The TVK government also suggested that approximately Rs 1,600 crore has been siphoned from the state exchequer over the last five years. These estimates also put the DMK government under intense scrutiny.

Declaring the crackdown, CM Vijay also directed officials to immediately dismantle unauthorised cash collection systems operating across the TASMAC wholesale and retail network. As per the official data. There are nearly 4,048 registered outlets.

Who Oversees Reforms?

The Prohibition and Excise Minister K Vignesh manages these reforms. The 37-year-old minister, whose family ran a tea stall before he started a cable distribution business and entered politics.

The first-time minister claimed that the newly elected CM clarified that his government does not need revenue through corruption or suffering of the people. "His instruction was simple – arrest leakages immediately and bring back people's money to the treasury," NDTV quoted the minister as saying.

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This announcement marks a key administrative overhaul of TASMAC operations, from liquor procurement and warehouse dispatch to retail sales, bottle returns and shop-level collections.

Vignesh further added that the TVK-led government has been constantly working on a "foolproof transparency mechanism" to ensure that all revenue from liquor sales reaches nothing but the state exchequer.

How Does The Informal System Work?

According to excise department sources, this alleged informal extortion has been a practice in the TASMAC supply chain for nearly two decades. Officials said that liquor in Tamil Nadu is supplied in standard cases based on bottle size:

180 ml bottles packaged in a case of 48

375 ml bottles come in a case of 24.

750 ml bottles packaged in a case of 12

A case of beer typically contains 12 bottles.

Of these, around Rs 90 was allegedly deposited as a 'party fund' for each case of liquor. Around Rs 40 was deposited per case for beer, while Rs 20 per case for wine was allegedly given to ministerial or political funds," an official said.

Officials claimed that these collections were conducted at warehouses, transport and retail outlets. "Around 8.8 million customers purchase liquor through TASMAC every month," the official said. "Internal estimates indicate that at least Rs 102 crore was allegedly going through unofficial channels every month."

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What Is The Empty Bottle Scheme?

Under the Empty Bottle scheme, customers pay an additional Rs 10 for each liquor bottle, which is being refunded to them if they return the bottle. The doubts intensify, as approximately 10 million bottles of liquor are sold in Tamil Nadu every month. An official said, "If 100,000 bottles were sold, only 60,000 were actually returned to the system. The remaining bottles were not accounted for. This is where a large part of the corruption occurred."

The officials claimed that the scam generated almost Rs 300 crore a month. The government is now considering proposals to include the Rs 10 deposit in the maximum retail price (MRP) or introduce a digital refund system to prevent leakage. Officials said that during the cabinet meeting, Vijay repeatedly stressed that liquor sales cannot be seen only from the viewpo of revenue generation.