TASMAC- the Akshaya Patra for the Government of Tamilnadu

One business that never diminishes or comes down for ever is the Devil's boon to mankind!  If you pass your exams, the celebrations begin with alcohol! The other way round if one fails in exams, the dejection is suppressed with the same alcohol!!  If you buy a car or a house or get promotion in your office, the mood is to drink and express happiness!  Hence, the overall factor for either happiness or sorrow is through Whisky or its allied kins that are available in various forms.

In India, sale of alcohol is mostly controlled by the government agencies who have no heart to balm the affected wounds of millions of drinkers.  On the drop of a hat, these agencies revise the price upwards, knowing pretty well that the person who wants to indulge in drinking has to come to their door steps. Invariably, the government prices the product in odd numbers.  If a customer pays Rs 100/- for a bottle of drink costing Rs 94/-, the balance of Rs 6/- is pocketed by the employees working at the outlet!  So much so that TASMAC is the only government agency that opens their shop at 7am and close it at 10 pm.  The employees never take any off or absent themselves as they stand to loose their share of loot that they make out of the customers by not paying the required change!!  There are instances of murder and kidnapping of employees due to feud and enmity that revolves around the lucrative business.

The other day, I had some friends who desired to drink certain whisky/rum/beer of their choice.  I struggled to get anywhere near the TASMAC shop as it was too crowded with unruly people who were already drunk and were stinking all around, may be because of the humid weather?  With efforts, I went to the counter and asked for a bottle of Aristocrat, an Old cask rum and a few bottles of Haywards beer.  The employee responded in lightening speed saying none of them were available and rattled the brands that were only available namely Bacardi Apple rum/some whisky which i have never heard of and King Fisher beer!!   I asked him if he can sell some good wine bottles to which he replied in negative saying there are no wine bottles available for sale!!  I asked him as to why he is unable to supply what we wanted.  He asked me to buy if I wanted these or vacate the place for other customers!!  I returned not buying anything in protest and decided to write to the authorities who control these outlets.

The State Government is not bothered to open up competition in these sectors and instead force people to drink whatever is supplied to these outlets.  There seems to be no choice for people who are forced to buy products that is thrust upon them.  It is rumoured and widely believed that only those breweries which takes care of the political thirst are allowed to  stock their products with TASMAC.
If you go to Bangalore, you find so many private agencies selling different varieties of beer/whisky/rum and wines and one is amazed to find so many Indian  brands that are available off the shelf!  Why can't the government of Tamilnadu do the same thing and allow multi brands to come into the market so that tipplers can have their choice of drinks according to their tastes?

Never Believe Citi Bank executives or the offers they make!

The Tie clad gentleman introduced himself as an executive of Citi Bank and added that he is an Engineering graduate from the IIT and an MBA from Calcutta IIM.  Surely, I thought this lad must be knowledgeable and fit to handle my life savings which I thought of parking with CITI with an expectation that they have brilliant managers for the funds that the clients park?  Along with this gentleman came a neatly attired, English speaking lady who also introduced herself as an Executive from the same bank. It is only at a later stage that I understood the purpose of bringing well dressed and well spoken ladies along to canvass business!!  Both the persons rattled all Banking Mantras and the existing market and the probable outlook that Citi fund Managers hold for my investment to double or may be triple within a short span of 3 years!  The few doubts that I had to clarify were held back as I did not want too much ignorance to be exhibited specially in front of the lady executive who was much younger in age and experience in Banking Industry.

The officer asked me if I have inclination to retire at 65 and suggested an Insurance policy of Birla sun Life with a premium paying period of 10 years and insurance covered for 21 years.  he also spread a work sheet in front of me stating the huge gains that would accrue at the end of 3/5/7/10 years which was quite fascinating for anyone to get lured into investing with them!!  The insurance was unit linked policy and was subject to market conditions and this was never explained to me.  I paid insurance premium for 7 years for myself and my wife and whenever I enquired about the surrender value, it would be at least 25% less than the paid of value of the premium that I have been paying for 7 years. I was quite furious and wanted to know what exactly is being done by the Birla Sun Life Insurance Managers or is it that they are dumb idiots who are unable to extract benefits from the market?  I wrote a strong letter meaning business to the Birla sun Life who deputed 2 of their executives to explain and assuage my feelings about the company.  what shocked me further was when the executives told me  the fact that Birla Sun Life Insurance paid nearly 35% of the premium that I paid towards my insurance policies to CITI Bank as commission for bringing them this business!!! what a circle of fraud and malicious dealings enacted by the Insurance company engaging a Bank as its agent  to bring in gulliable  customers!! Instead, the Bank through their executives lure customers by showing fake charts of gains and rewards by  investing with the Birla sun Life Insurance and gain profits for themselves? This is surely not ethical banking!  When you confront the bank, they simply say that the markets are down and not looking up and once the markets bounce back, I would see profits!!!

Not satisfied with Citi Bank explanations or the Birla Sun Life Insurance explanations, I decided to close both my bank account as well as the Insurance which I surrendered.  I got much less than the paid up premium value although I stayed invested for 7 years without any yield or profits. Obviously, the Insurance company has kept the value of the product low so as to cover the commission paid to Citi Bank all these years!!  Citi Bank is practising unethical banking and instead of being fund managers to their clients, they are turning otherwise.  It is time, RBI comes down heavily on such Banks and restrict their business field to pure Banking where customers are rewarded by way of interest and profits and the bank makes profit by ethical lending to needy borrowers or industries.  There is no point in marketing Insurance policies for private players for the sake of commission and entangling customers in difficult modes of investments.  The term banking should bring in respect and attract customers as it used to be in earlier years.  I have lost a considerable chunk of money through investment in Citi Bank who in turn invested them in various Mutual funds and insurance policies of private players such as Birla sun Life for achieving short term gains for themselves but lost a customer who should have been otherwise happy?

My advice to all those wanting to invest their precious money is not to get lured by the Bank executives who promise Moon but deliver only an ice ball which also melts! Beware of such people and be careful in your investments.  It is always better to invest in Nationalised banks and like products where the returns may be low but the capital is safe and some reasonable returns are assured!