The Indian Express                      27.03.2013

Wedding woes: NDMC set to overhaul baraat ghar booking system

New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is set to overhaul its system of booking of baraat ghars.

According to officials, the people who come to book baraat ghars for celebrations face a harrowing time due to the nexus between the tent cartel, florists and managers of baraat ghars.

To break this "nexus" the council has decided to rotate deputy managers ever three months. An NDMC official said many of these managers have been posted in the same baraat ghar for many years.

Currently, booking for baraat ghars can be made three months before an event. In an effort to streamline the booking system and ensure transparency, the NDMC had made the booking process online.

To make the process more transparent, the council is now working on a system whereby the deputy managers of baraat ghars will not be able to know the identity of those making the booking. "Only ten days before a scheduled event will the deputy general manager be able to meet the person who made the booking. This will ensure that the managers do not get time to manipulate the party into using service providers such as caterers and florists as suggested by them," a senior NDMC official said.

For those who cannot book the baraat ghars online, facilitation centres of NDMC will have counters that will give them receipt on payment of cash.

NDMC has 11 baraat ghars in its jurisdiction. According to the official, the need for rotating managers of baraat ghars arose after they received many complaints about the "managers manipulating users into booking caterers and florists suggested by them".

"We have found out that people who book these baraat ghars are forced by these managers to use the tent contractor, caterer and florist recommended by them. If not, the person faces many problems during the function," the official said.

Also, the council aims to rationalise the payment and security deposit amount for booking baraat ghars.

"All baraat ghars in Category A will have the same cost irrespective of whether it is air-conditioned or not. For Category C halls, we will have separate AC and non-AC rates. Also, we will reduce the security deposit for these baraat ghars almost by half and the users will get the excess amount refunded through electronic transfers," the official said.

A detailed project report will be presented in next council meeting for approval, the official said.