CHENNAI: In the first of its kind, TASMAC has developed an 'Inspection App' through the Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency to facilitate the inspection of retail vending shops by officers across the State.
The new app is Geographic Information System (GIS) based with all Tasmac liquor shops geotagged and designed to capture all the essential details noted during the inspection, like personnel attendance, stock availability, stock details from over 90 days, price list, functioning of CCTV Camera, maintenance of various registers and overall functioning of a shop.
Tasmac currently uses paper forms as the primary mode of collecting data. A senior Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac) official told DT Next that the app is used on a trial basis for a month.
He said that the mobile app will have all the details about the liquor stock provided to each Tasmac shop. Inspecting officials can visit the outlets paperless and access information such as inspection schedules, checklists, and stock maintenance easily on the app, the senior official said.
He stated that all senior regional managers, special flying squads, district managers, and assistant commissioners (Excise) had been trained to utilise the app features and the reporting format. "The 'Inspection App' will be fully implemented shortly," he said, adding, "Using this app, the field officers could immediately report to the Tasmac head office if there are any irregularities in the sales or keeping the stock."
K Sriram, a mobile app developer in the city, explained the app may not function as expected in areas with poor internet connectivity, especially rural areas. "Officials should ensure the app can be functional in all regions for efficient results."