Buying monthly milk cards Online - Aavin introduces new facility

Heard of Vijaya, Milma, Nandini…………………. ~ and Aavin !!!!  4 or 5 decades ago, mornings started with mad scramble for milk – to start the day with a cup of degree coffee…. From cows and buffaloes milk, there was a paradigm shift in the City of Chennai aka Madras to pasteurized milk. Prior to that the localities depended entirely on the neighbourhood cowherds for milk. The milkman would come in front of the house, have a customary check of the utensil before they touch the udder and  milch the cattle in your presence – still people used to complain of the milk being very much watery.

flavoured milk of Vijaya in a shop

It was a difficult process as those were the days when people were not accustomed to refrigerators.  The milk van would come early in the morning, the attendant at the booth would unload and nap for a few more minutes. Around 0500 am, there would a big queue lined before each booth. Each had to carry either the empty bottle as replacement for the milk in bottle or carry a utensil, into which the milk from the bottle would be poured.  After very many years, there was the cover milk replacing the bottles……….  It was common to see people loitering on roads and cursing everyone on days, when the carrying van had a breakdown or delay due to any other reason. 

Courtesy :  http://memeart.tripod.com/Cows.html

Milk was scarce and not easily available. Procuring a monthly Aavin card was not so easy; procedurally very cumbersome; more so, when one had to buy bulk quantity for marriages and the like.  Those were the days when there were hundreds of cows and ten times their no. of buffaloes in Triplicane with a similar story in all other localities of the city of Singara Chennai.

Aavin is the trademark of the Tamil Nadu Co-operative Milk Producers' Federation Limited, a Tamil Nadu-based milk producer's union.  Aavin comes from Tamil meaning 'from cow'. So 'Aavin paal'  translates to cow's milk.  Aavin procures milk, process it and sells it in retail across Tamilnadu; similarly it is brand Vijaya in Andhra; Milma in Kerala and Nandini in Karnataka.  The Dairy Development Department was established in Tamil Nadu in the year 1958; was replaced by the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Limited in the year 1981.  Even with so many private players in the field, Aavin is still at the top with a very high base % of consumers.

Now most Office goers buy their required quantity mostly in the morning, keep them in the fridge for use across the day.  For buying the monthly cards, they have to buy it at the local counter on a designated day, mostly in the first week of every month, failing which they have to go to the Zonal Office.  At present, Aavin supplies nearly 11 lakh litres of milk in the city. There are about 12 lakh milk cards catering to nearly 5 lakh families in Chennai, according to sources in Aavin.

The good news is that from  December 1, consumers of Aavin need not wait in queues any more to renew their milk cards every month.  The Hindu reports that in its bid to reach out to consumers, the Tamil Nadu Milk Producers’ Co-operative Federation Limited (Aavin) launched the facility to renew monthly milk cards online. Consumers can register their details, including address and milk depot number, at www.aavinmilk.com. They will be provided with a unique registration number that will enable them to renew their monthly milk cards using credit or debit cards.

The facility was recently launched in Chennai by the Milk and dairy development minister V. Moorthy.  Consumers can collect the new milk cards at the respective depot or milk delivery points on the 15th of every month by producing a printout of the payment receipt and a document for address proof.

At a time, when most give discounts for transacting only, Aavin is different.  It is stated that those  opting for the online renewal would be levied a service charge of Rs. 10 up to one litre, Rs. 20 up to two litres and Rs. 30 up to three litres. Aavin has tied up with City Union Bank to offer the facility, which aims at preventing sale of milk at a higher rate.

As part of its efforts to eliminate bogus cards, Aavin is also planning to introduce smart cards for those who have registered online. This facility will be launched in Anna Nagar as a pilot project and later extended to other parts of the city. These smart cards will contain basic details of the card holder such as name, number of family members and milk consumption.

At some point of time, Aavin promoted ‘automated vending machines’ where one has to insert a token to get milk from the machine. It has disappeared in most places where it was previously installed.

It is unlikely that you know the price of the milk that you buy ………….  From Sept 2011, the price of toned milk [the blue cover that you buy]  1 litre is Rs.24/- for monthly card holders and the MRP is Rs.27/-  for halt litre it is Rs.12/- & Rs.15.50 respectively;  in respect of Standardised milk [green cover] which  is 4.5 milk i.e., containing fat @ 4.5% - the price is Rs.14.50/- per 500 ml.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

1st Dec 2012.