Hall owners in Kannur slash fee by one-third

Owners of auditoriums and halls in Kannur have decided to cut the fee for hosting events by one-third.

The Hall Owners’ Association in Kannur took the decision in the wake of people deciding to postpone or cancel marriages and other ceremonies due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

There were around 1,100 marriage auditoriums in the State and 80 of them were in Kannur, said C. Jayachandran, president, Hall Owners’ Association.

April and May were the seasonal months when auditoriums had the most business, he said. Allied businesses such as catering, photography and videography, decoration, beauty salons and others too got work during the time.

However, the pandemic had affected all and there was a minimum loss of ₹25 lakh for each hall owner during these peak months, he said. The auditoriums were charging between ₹50,000 and ₹1 lakh during the period.

Many of those who had planned to conduct marriages and other events up to July had cancelled them as a result of the pandemic, while others were arranging the ceremonies at home, he said.

P.P. Vinod who runs a kalyana mandapam, said the pandemic had come at a time when most of the auditoriums were booked. But considering the situation, the hall owners had decided to repay the advance amount taken at the time of booking.