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Marriage halls fleecing customers, rights panel to approach CCI

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The Mumbai Grahak Panchayat (MGP), a prominent organisation that promotes consumer rights, has decided to file a complaint with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) against the managements of several wedding halls in Mumbai which have adopted a monopoly system.

MGP chairman and noted advocate Shirish Deshpande told dna on Thursday: "We have already collected a lot of data on these wedding halls and will soon file a complaint against them. The order of the commission will have all-India implications and will be applicable to wedding venues across the country."

"Many of the hall managements have their way in almost all matters except the selection of the bride and groom. They insist on employing their photographers and even priests. This practice is clearly illegal and we are determined to put an end to this," Deshpande added.

When a couple of months ago, Alisha Narkar (not her real name), a call centre employee, decided to get married, little did she know that she wouldn't be able to celebrate her wedding the way she wanted. She wanted to tie the knot on May 5. When her father went to book a popular marriage hall in Andheri, he was in for a shock as the hall management insisted that the contracts for decoration and catering be given to a person who had "monopoly" over the hall. The rates quoted by the decorator and the caterer were huge and way beyond Narkar's capacity. The family finally settled for a smaller hall and organised the wedding on the appointed day.

Thousands of hapless Mumbaikars are at the mercy of such hall managements who dictate terms. And in the absence of an alternative, most parents succumb to their diktats.

dna contacted the managements of several halls across Mumbai posing as persons who had come to book the halls for wedding. Most of them had the pernicious monopoly system.

Parsi Gymkhana at Dadar has a sprawling maidan, which it hires out for weddings. It charges Rs 1.5 lakh per day only for the ground, and the contract for decoration has to be given to Jess Ideas Pvt Ltd. A company official said the cost of decoration would be up to Rs 8.5 lakh. Mercifully, there is no monopoly system for catering in this maidan.

Rajesh Menon, who had hired a wedding venue at Ghatkopar told dna: "The hall had catering monopoly. I wanted to serve Kerala items like aviyal, pacchadi, etc. But, the caterer did not know how to make them.

I said I would get another caterer who knew the job. But the monopoly-caterer said I would have to pay him a royalty of Rs 100 per guest if I did that. It was nothing short of blackmail."

Rates differ for communities
The management of a marriage hall in Matunga has different rates for members of different communities. "This is most unfair," said Nambi Rajan, a local resident.

"Some members of the management committee take hefty commission from those contractors to whom monopoly status has been granted," he added.

Radha Srivatsav was forced to give the contract for her daughter's wedding to a monopoly-caterer at a city wedding hall. "Since this man enjoys monopoly, he did not bother about the quality of food. And it was horrible, and many of my guests complained. There was nothing I could do about it."

Moreover, many of the caterers hardly follow norms relating to hygiene, and also evade service and other taxes, with payment often being demanded in cash.

Rent, all time high
Meanwhile, the rent of halls are today at an all-time high. While smaller venues like Shirodkar Hall in Parel charge a reasonable Rs 25,000 per day, others charge over one lakh a day. Grande Imperial in Andheri charges Rs 2.50 lakh; Fine Arts in Chembur charges only Rs 82,000 keeping in mind the middle-class profile of those who book its hall. The managements of some of the halls where there is no monopoly levy a royalty of a few thousand rupees.

Hall Rate Catering Decoration
Vanita Samaj (Dadar) Rs 45,000 No monopoly Monopoly
Parsi Gymkhana (Dadar) Rs ,50,000 No monopoly Monopoly
Grande Imperial (Andheri) Rs 2,00,000 Monopoly Monopoly
Fine Arts Hall (Chembur) Rs 82,000 No monopoly Monopoly
Shirodkar Hall(Parel) Rs 25,000 Monopoly Monopoly

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