As spendthrifts turn frugal, pubs go quiet

PUNE: The city’s party-goers are singing a different tune these days.
Reeling under a severe shortage of liquid cash, they have decided that swaying to ear-splitting music amid multi-coloured lights, guzzling down alcohol and chatting up strangers at pubs or hooking up in lounges can take the back seat for a while.
Regular partier Deepa Singhani said her friends and she have decided to take it easy for now and not go out often.
“It is not that we don’t have cards. However, with so many messages and rumours going on in different forms of social media, we are scared of using cards as well. I stood in a queue three days ago for more than two hours and withdrew some money for the week. I do not have the courage to do it again for some time at least. So, we have decided to save money and use it for important, essential things rather than spending it at lounges. Things are far from smooth and it is better to be cautious now,” the working professional who resides in Koregaon Park told TOI.
A representative of 1 Lounge, located in Koregaon Park and popular among youngsters, said there was a nearly 40% drop in footfall and sales since the government decided to demonetize Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes and the cash crunch that followed.
“Business has been affected. Mainly people come here, drink three to four pints of beer and pay by cash. With money being scarce, they probably want to save it. Many don’t have cards and we have also found out that a lot of our customers have not received their salaries because of this issue, which has added to the dip in business. Though we support Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his initiative, business is down and we hope things get back to normal soon,” the representative, who requested anonymity, said.
Sandy Singh, an owner-partner of Swig, a popular lounge in Koregaon Park, Euriska a nightclub and Prem’s restaurant, echoed the sentiment.
“With not much cash available with customers, people are also not using cards out of fear. There is a 20% drop in the number of customers coming in. People have apprehension about spending money under the circumstances and social media is not helping matters. The problem is that this is usually a good season for us, and post-Diwali people are in a happy mood and the weather is also nice. In an attempt to boost sales, in three to four days, we will begin a system under which customers coming in can pay by e-wallets or Paytm,” Singh said.
Nitin Shahi, an executive with an auto-mobile company, said that saving money was the need of the hour. “Banks are still not functioning properly and ATMs are shut. I go regularly to lounges, but going there means spending at least Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 at a go. Since the situation is not normal, it is better to avoid it. Getting some wine at home is a better idea as it costs much lesser,” Shahi said.
A representative of Hashtag- The Lounge, located on Lane 7 of Koregaon Park said, “All the problems are because of lack of liquid cash. People use cards less here. Footfall has dropped by 40% on average. The standing crowd, which comes in plenty here, wants to have only a few drinks and hence prefers to pay by cash.”