Owners and workers of bars attached to TASMAC outlets on Monday sought advice from the district administration for revenue augmentation in the wake of restriction of selling duration to 10 hours.
In a petition submitted to Collector S.Prabakar, representatives of Erode District TASMC Bar Managers and Owners’ Association said they face harassment by the police in the wake of the Chief Minister’s order on cutting down two hours of transaction taking effect.
They said they were required to open their bars before the permitted time of start: 12 noon, for making preparations.
Likewise, a few minutes beyond the 10 p.m. deadline were required for cleaning up and sending off customers.
But, the police enter the bar and book cases at the stroke of 10 p.m.
The police were also booking drunk driving cases positioning themselves outside the bars, the association members complained.
The association also demanded action against the staff at the TASMAC outlet for charging more than the specified level, and warned that they would themselves prevent the ‘looting’ if no step was taken by the official machinery.
The association claimed it could prove instances of sale of liquor beyond specified hours for high rates in adjoining Namakkal district, and lamented that TASMAC outlets in Erode were losing customer base to those in Namakkal district.
