Demonetization casts shadow on wedding season

Ranchi: With less than 11 days left for his daughter's marriage,

Kailash Nayak

, a resident of Harmu, is in a dilemma as to how he should pay his labourers and others involved in the preparations. Another person SK Bariyar from Hinoo is in a similar crisis and is asking his relatives to contribute cash of Rs 100 denominations to meet ends.

Bhramori Majumder

of

South Office Para

is on the same boat as the caterer and decorator have refused to accept the scrapped notes ahead of her younger daughter's marriage on December 9. Majumder has to skip work to stand in the queue outside banks to exchange the scrapped currency. Unavailability of the new currency in ATMs and several banks have created a sense of panic among these people.

Traders in the wedding business have been equally hit by the crisis. Florist Rajesh at

Albert Ekka Chowk

said he was not paid adequate advance money by his customer for decorating the upcoming engagement and marriage venues and is forced to compromise with the less amount, considering the cash crunch faced by customers.

Mohammed Mohsin of a crockery shop in Church Road said, "A week prior to the marriage season is always a great time for business but the situation is not the same this year." For banquet hall owners, who do not deal with online banking, the last two days have taken a toll on the pre-marriage booking period.

"We are receiving advance hall booking payments in cheques, since Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes are no more accepted. It is a difficult situation and the payments of daily wage maids and labourers are delayed since it takes at least two days to encash the cheque," Manjeet Singh, co-owner of hotel Sartaj at Mahatma Gandhi road, said.

AVN Grand hotel manager NS Thomas said the inadequate advance payment is preventing them from confirming hall bookings, however, they are allowing online and card swipe facilities.