Sivakasi: Due to the increase in online sales, sellers say that the sale of firecrackers in shops in Sivakasi has declined.
There are more than 1,100 firecracker factories and more than 3,500 firecracker retail shops in Sivakasi. Firecrackers produced here are sold across the country. In Tamil Nadu, licenses for permanent firecracker shops are issued only in Virudhunagar district.
In anticipation of Diwali, since fireworks are available at heavy discounts and new varieties can be tested by bursting them directly before buying, it is common for large numbers of people to come to Sivakasi to purchase fireworks not only from Tamil Nadu but also from states including Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka.
In Sivakasi firecracker shops, firecracker sales begin every year on Aadi Perukku day with special prayers. From that day onward, major companies start placing orders for gift box varieties of firecrackers to distribute to workers, and industrialists to give to customers. Following this, sales at firecracker shops in Sivakasi remain brisk from Aadi Perukku until Deepavali. After Ayudha Pooja, retail sales also pick up strongly.
However, over the past 2 years, people have been showing greater interest in buying crackers online. Likewise, online sales are currently booming. Moreover, since the onset of the northeast monsoon this year, continuous rain has been falling.
Due to such reasons, most of the shops in Sivakasi are deserted without customers. Since business in the shops has declined unlike ever before, the sellers are worried.
Regarding this, firecracker sellers said: Although the Supreme Court has banned online firecracker sales, online sales are still taking place freely and on a large scale. They cheat customers who pay after being attracted by flashy online advertisements by giving them poor-quality firecrackers.
In recent years, hundreds of cases have been registered for fraud involving taking money in the name of selling firecrackers online and not sending the firecrackers. Due to online sales, retail firecracker trade in Sivakasi has been affected by up to 40 percent. They said the government should take appropriate action to stop online firecracker sales.