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Goa, which is in the middle of the wedding season, may not be an immediate beneficiary to the announcement as bankers are yet to work out ways to make this exemption
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The big fat wedding season in Goa is likely to take a big hit this year. Centre's announcement that those in need of money could withdraw up to Rs 2.5 lakh cash per wedding is no music to the ears to Goans for now as bankers are yet to work out the modalities.
On the other side, a number of small vendors, mostly florists, DJs, bands, and mehendi designers associated with the industry are bound to get affected as they mostly deal in cash to conduct their business.
For organising the 'big weddings', more and more people are expected to make payments by cheques to these vendors as hard currency is difficult to come by, and this in turn will make it very tough for them to evade tax.
The demonetisation move which came in the middle of the wedding season has put families in a fix. However, on Thursday the government offered some respite as Economic Affairs Secretary Shantikala Das announced that those in need of money can withdraw up to Rs 2.5 lakh cash per wedding.
Goa, which is in the middle of the wedding season, may not be an immediate beneficiary to the announcement as bankers are yet to work out ways to make this exemption.
A manager from a public sector bank in Panaji said, “The modalities for giving Rs 2.5 lakh cash for a wedding have not been decided as of now. Due to this, we have not conveyed anything to our staff yet as to how to deal with such cases.”
Since November and December are wedding months in Goa for both Christian and Hindu communities, with some being high-spend weddings, banks will have to quickly work out systems and communicate ways to clear this exemption. Secondly, bankers will now have to devise ways on how to source so much cash.
Another manager of a public sector bank, said, “Normally, it will take us one day to get Rs 2.5 lakh for one person. So, we advise that people should tell us a day in advance at least. Else, it might be tough to arrange this much cash.”
Meanwhile, wedding planners are of the opinion that it will become more and more difficult for anyone to make any kind of payment in cash to vendors. Due to this, these vendors will have to align their business models so that they accept payments by cheque and also pay service tax.
As of now, a large number of such small vendors don’t pay any tax since they are paid in cash. Dennis Figueiredo, owner, The Big Day Wedding Planners, said, “Earlier, a lot of vendors would say pay us half in cash and half through bank transfer to avoid the full burden of service tax. These are typically people who undertake orders of decoration, mehendi, lighting, photography and even bands. They will all have to fall in line now.”
Such vendors will have to accept that they will be paid by cheque. They will then have to include service tax in their bill, which will make their services more expensive. But, there is no way out for them now.
Leslie Remedios, owner, Reynold Weddings, said, “Ten years ago, everyone involved in the wedding business would accept only cash. But, we are paying everyone by cheque. People will have to tell their vendors like DJs, florists, etc, that they can be paid only by cheque and not cash. And, I think this will be a good move.”
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PROBLEM IS SERIOUS,
WE WILL HAVE RIOTS,
SAYS SUPREME COURT
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NO MOVE TO SEAL
BANK LOCKERS:
FINANCE MINISTRY
>> See pg 9
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Cough, cough ... soiled notes raise a dust
The demonetisation drive resulted in yet another unpredictable outcome as bank staff had to wear face-masks to deal with soiled currency notes.
The root cause of this lies in the acute shortage of Rs 100 notes in the market. Due to lack of Rs 100 notes and absence of Rs 500 notes in Goa, Rs 2,000 notes have largely remained out of circulation. The same problem is being experienced in other parts of the country too. To deal with it, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had allowed public and private banks to use old soiled Rs 100 notes, which were otherwise meant to be scrapped.
But, these notes can cause health risks to bank staff and even customers dealing with them. Due to that, in certain branches in Panaji, bank managers advised their cashiers to wear masks to avoid any kind of health hazard.
A manager of a public-sector-bank in Panaji said, “We had kept these old Rs 100 notes to be surrendered to RBI. But, RBI said that it could be brought to use. However, these notes have resulted in generation of lot of dust. Therefore, we have advised our staff to wear masks.”
It seems that bank staff will have to wear these masks for some time because new Rs 500 notes have not reached Goa as of now. Therefore, demand for Rs 100 notes is really high and that can only be met by bringing into use the old soiled notes.
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Today, swapping
of old notes for
sr citizens only
NEW DELHI / AGENCIES
On Saturday (today), banks will not exchange the old 500 or 1,000 rupee notes for new bills, allowing only senior citizens to make the one-time swap for upto Rs 2,000. On Sunday, banks will remain shut.
Banks across the country will remain open on Saturday and follow normal working hours to complete pending work, but only senior citizens will be able to exchange notes at bank branches, said Rajiv Rishi, Chairman Indian Banks’ Association.
The government, meanwhile, on Friday denied that it is considering whether to end the offer of providing new notes for old ones. The cap was originally set at Rs 4,000 and then, this week, raised to Rs 4,500 only to be reduced on Thursday to Rs 2,000.
