Mumbaikars in tussle with marriage hall owners over refund

When scores of families were forced to call off or reschedule weddings and other family gatherings due to the COVIDtriggered lockdown they were sad But little did they know that they would be facing more frustration later over the booking amounts paid to halls and for banquets Several of them are now caught in a tussle with hall owners to get their money backThane resident Shubha Krishnan had booked Mulundrsquos Indraprastha Hall for her daughters postwedding reception on May 9 2021 and paid an advance of Rs 99000 The reception had to be cancelled due to the lockdown When Shubha to seek a refund hall manager Raman apparently told her to reschedule the event Refund was not possible she was toldShubha said the hall was to charge Rs 165 lakh for the reception ldquoMy daughter got married in Chennai and the reception was in Mumbai My soninlaw is in the merchant navy and I donrsquot when he will get leave My daughter lives abroadrdquoRajiv Barut Malad resident who had paid Rs 20000 advance and Abhinay Dadarkar was lucky to get a full refundShe said ldquoCancellation of an event is not a big thing for the hall but itrsquos a huge loss for us We didnrsquot cancel it intentionally The hall should hall management should refund our money after deducting some amountrdquoRaman told midday that their policy doesnrsquot allow the refund of the advance ldquoWhoever gives an advance and his scheduled programme gets cancelled either he or his blood relatives can do a programme at this fixed pricerdquoMalad resident Rajiv Barutrsquos daughter was to get married on May 29 2021 at Savita Banquet and Caterers in Malad Barut had paid Rs 20000 in advance But a few days before the wedding Barut contracted COVID and the wedding had to be cancelledWhen he asked the money to be returned the hall management told him to reschedule the function ldquoThe total cost of using the hall was Rs 70000 but restrictions were imposed and we didnrsquot need a bigger place We had the wedding in our village Because of COVID I donrsquot even have a job and now the advance money is also gonerdquoJanvi Thakkar owner of Savita Banquet said they are ready to give the hall at the same rate if they reschedule the functions ldquoPeople ask us questions but who will answer our questions We have paid full tax even during the lockdown The EMI of the loan taken for the hall is also being paid Water tax electric bills all have to be paid The employees have to be paid salaries We are managing all this We have not got any concession from the governmentrdquo she saidGot money after a delayAbhinay Dadarkar was to be married in the Andhra Sabha Hall at Dadar for which he had given Rs 3 lakh Just when all arrangements had been done the prime minister announced the nationwide lockdown But Dadarkar was a bit lucky The hall returned his money after four months ldquoDue to the lockdown I did not get married in the hall When the rules of lockdown were relaxed I got married The owner of Andhra Sabha Hall which did not operate for a year closed it and leftrdquo said the Dadar residentNaresh Shigwan said his son was to be married in 2020 and he had booked King George Hall at Dadar He too had to cancel the wedding due to the lockdown ldquoI had booked the hall six months before the wedding date and had paid Rs 1 lakh in advance But after emailing to them for a refund I got my full money after two monthsrdquoKiran Redij who runs two halls in Dombivli says everyone has been badly hit due to the COVID outbreak ldquoWe offer two options to customers They can either reschedule the marriage or get the money back Ours is a trustrun hallrdquoCity halls sufferingThe owner of a hall who requested anonymity said rules are strictly enforced in cities but there is a lot of laxity in villages ldquoBecause of this reason many people prefer to go to villages for wedding functions If more people than the number fixed by the government are seen in the halls of Mumbai then BMC and police take action but there is no restriction of the numbers in villagesrdquo