The Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation Ltd, Aavin, experienced teething problems at three depots in Anna Nagar on Saturday – the first day of verification of particulars of its consumers for issue of smart cards in the area.
Consumers and milk suppliers said details such as names and addresses mentioned in the forms provided by Aavin were incomplete. In some forms, even spellings of names were incorrect.
The details of around 5,000 consumer cards were to be verified in the first phase on Saturday in Anna Nagar.
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Forms had been sent to Aavin booths. Customers were asked to verify the details either at the booth or when suppliers would deliver the forms to them.
Rajan, a milk supplier, said that most of his customers had sent their particulars with him but he was unable to find their forms at the booth. “This is hardly the way Aavin verifies particulars. They should have done it in a more organised manner,” he said.
R. Ramesh, a consumer who went to the booth from where he procures milk daily, said that there were eight forms with the name Ramesh. “Since the names were the same, I thought I could find out my form if I checked the phone numbers but mine was not to be found,” he said.
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Following the confusion, Aavin withdrew the process of verification through milk suppliers and has decided to utilise the services of college students instead.
“These details were provided by consumers and entered into our database by DTP operators. If cardholders are unable to find their names or details, they need not worry, we will not be suspending milk supply,” said an Aavin official.
The smart cards are being issued in association with City Union Bank.
The new system is being introduced to weed out cards that are being held by food outlets or by milk suppliers in bulk. Despite an increase in prices of Aavin milk last year, cardholders are still at an advantage as the price is Rs.3 less than the MRP per litre. Aavin supplies around 10.5 lakh litres of milk daily in the city, of which 7 lakh litres is through cards, which means roughly 5.5 lakh households are cardholders.