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ONCE upon a time, preparations for a wedding would begin with the making of huge quantities of pickles and papads. Today, it starts with an online search for a suitable wedding planner. Once you have zeroed in on one, the rest is easy, so long as you have the green bucks. From printing the invitation cards, fixing the priest and the videographer to catering and decorating the wedding mandap, everything is taken care of by the planner. The package even includes arrangements for the honeymoon. Like tour packages, these wedding packages also offer you a wide choice of locations. You could wed in royal style in Jaipur, or have a beach wedding at Goa. You could even have theme weddings, and film stars attending your wedding, for a price, of course. It all depends on what you want — a simple ceremony or a marriage extravaganza —and how much you are willing to spend. If for some unforeseen circumstances, the wedding is cancelled or postponed, you even have an insurance to indemnify the resultant loss. But there is one eventuality the wedding planner does not take care of — and that is the compensation package to the bride and her parents (or the bridegroom and his parents, as the case may be) if the arrangements turn out to be poor, or deficient, or not of the quality promised. Arranging a wedding is not an easy job and requires elaborate planning and immaculate execution. Failure to do so may well mar, sometimes forever, the relationship between the guests and the hosts, or the families of the bride and the bridegroom. So anyone offering services for organising a wedding has to keep these things in mind, and also the fact that any deficiency can give rise to a consumer complaint before the courts constituted under the Consumer Protection Act. In fact in deciding such cases in the past, courts have kept in mind the Indian traditions and sensitivities vis-`E0-vis weddings. In the case of BN Nagi Reddy vs Residency Hotel, for example, the Tamil Nadu state commission directed the hotel to pay Reddy a compensation of Rs 50,000 for the mental agony, anguish and humiliation caused to him on account of the hotel's negligence. Reddy had booked for the bridegroom's party, six suites and 14 double rooms for three days, but when the guests arrived, the hotel made available only two suites, forcing the complainant to make alternate arrangements at another costlier hotel. In addition to the compensation, the state commission directed the hotel to refund all the expenses incurred by the consumer towards accommodating his guests. Similarly, in the case of Udai Ram vs Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation, the Rajasthan state commission directed RSRTC to compensate the bridegroom's family for its failure to provide the promised service. Here, the bus booked to take the bridegroom's party to the wedding venue at a nearby village never turned up, forcing Udai Ram to make alternate arrangements at the last minute. As a result of the delay so caused, the marriage could not be solemnised at the auspicious time fixed by the astrologer. Invitation cards are an important part of a wedding celebration. In the case of Post Master General, Tamil Nadu, vs Calvin Jacob, the national commission held the post office liable for the poor attendance at the wedding as it had failed to deliver the invitation cards. Here, the post office was asked to pay Jacob Rs 10,000 for the mental agony and distress suffered. The Postal Department was also asked to pay damages towards the wastage of food caused by the low turnout of guests, and also reimburse the cost of printing the invitations and posting them. Marriages, it is said,
are made in heaven. But the arrangements for tying the nuptial knot
are made on earth and, hence, there is every possibility of bad
planning and execution on the part of a marriage planner marring a
perfect wedding. So one has to choose the service provider with great
care. Work out all details (and the cost) and put these in writing so
that there is no ambiguity in the contract.
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