Wedding plans take a beating, business hit

AURANGABAD: Surendra Sonawane of Mayurnagar, whose daughter's wedding is scheduled exactly a week later, is worried for more than one reason.
The Centre's decision to withdraw Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination notes on Tuesday night has poured cold water on all important wedding preparations, Sonawane said. "Despite having sufficient money in hand, we cannot use it to buy the things needed for the wedding," the worried father said.
Like Sonawanes, scores of other people having wedding in their family have claimed to be facing serious issues in ensuring important arrangements.
Several popular market areas, including Gulmandi and Shahagunj, that witness a huge crowd during the wedding season are almost deserted.
Marathwada, where penetration of plastic money among buyers as well as sellers is still relatively less, tried to rely on cheques to make payments as suggested by the government. "The solution, however, did not work out well," Santosh Dadke, another affected parent, said.
Several sellers simply refused to accept cheques considering various risks associated with the option, including bouncing. A few sellers were accepting cheques only from the people whom they knew well enough to rely on the option, Dadke, whose daughter's wedding is on November 23, said.
Ajay Shah, president of Aurangabad Jilha Vyapari Mahasangh, a merchants' association, said less than 5% business transactions were witnessed in local market that was unprecedented during wedding season.
Rutuja, who is scheduled to tie the knot on November 16, said the latest move has proved to be a dampener for her. "It's a lifetime event for which families leave no stone unturned. I had lined up several important plans just before the week of marriage. I am in a fix now as how to go ahead with all those plans with demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination notes," she said.
Several halls, which make brisk business during wedding season, said they could not do a single booking for wedding or other functions on Wednesday.
"We receive bookings for different functions, especially marriages, at least a couple of months in advance in the period after Diwali. Three customers who wanted to book the hall for January failed to do so owing to money transaction issues," Pundalik Shinde, trustee of Maratha-Mandir Marriage hall, said.
Ganesh Sakhare, owner of Sakhare marriage hall, said he has decided to not accept cheques as mode of payment for advance bookings. "We cannot rely on cheque payment as it involves risks. We have to run from pillar to post in case the cheque bounces," he said, adding that withdrawal of currency notes could have planned during the lean season.
Wedding season that falls during summer and post Diwali, is considered as multi-crore rupee business involving different markets.