Big, fat Indian weddings have become costlier since implementation of
the Goods & Services Tax (GST). Tax on gold and diamond jewellery
has increased from 1.6 percent to 3 percent and bookings for a 5-star
hotel are now costlier by 28 percent.
Just when the wedding
business was bouncing back from the glooms of the past season where big
budget weddings took a hit due to demonetisation, GST came and made
weddings at least 25 percent more expensive than what it was last year.
However,
the celebrations have not taken a hit. GST or no GST, the show must go
on is the mantra of every big ticket wedding happening in the country.
"Prices
of wedding outfits have increased anywhere between 5 percent and 25
percent post GST, so customer budgets have increased accordingly but we
haven’t experienced marked changes in the sales," fashion designer Naina
Jain said.
The highest spend by a single customer since GST at
Jain’s has been Rs 15 lakhs. The trend indicated that wedding shopping
hasn’t taken a hit when it comes to designer wear that has a 28 percent
GST.
"No one is mindlessly spending though," said wedding planner
Chitvan Jaipuria, director at CJ’s Events and Wedding adding that "money
spent is well spent and most spent on bespoke services."
One of
the engagement parties Jaipuria put together in Kolkata this season had a
curated list of Coke studio musicians flown down to sing at the
function. Clearly, GST hasn’t hit the posh weddings too much. What was
expensive might have just become slightly more expensive.
"Wedding
is an industry that never takes a back seat. While last year was
slightly slow, this year the wedding market is throbbing with new
offerings and also buyers for these services that we curate for them,"
said Ranju Alex, General Manager JW Marriott Kolkata, and MPVP, East
India, Bangladesh and Bhutan.
Marriott Kolkata is booked for the
entire wedding season and has now started getting reservations for
weddings that are to take place in the summer of 2018.
According
to a latest ASSOCHAM report, the Indian wedding industry is about Rs
1,00,000 crore and is growing at 25 percent to 30 percent annually. The
estimated cost of a wedding with no expenses spared could be between Rs 3
lakh and Rs 8 crore in India, the report said.
It is also
estimated that the average cost of many wedding services like shopping,
tent booking, food services, etc., is higher due to GST. The GST rate on
most of these services is from 18 to 28 percent.
But, before GST,
most of the wedding service businesses like tent services,
confectionery booking, etc., were using unregistered bills on which they
didn’t have to pay any tax, the report said.
Catering to all
shopping-related services, Shaadilogy — a digital platform to plan and
buy wedding outfits, accessories and gifts have come up with an offer
for people to plan out a budget accomodating the additional taxes in the
form of GST.
"Costs have definitely gone up by 25 percent at
least and we have started an EMI scheme for the brides and
grooms-to-be," said Aayshya Jhunjhunwala, co-founder at Shaadilogy.
"We
do not want people to compromise on their choice and the EMI will only
make it easier for one to choose an expensive outfit without worrying
about the price tag," Jhunjhunwala added.
Alongside outfits and venues, even services have become expensive this wedding season.
"We
are not working without bills this time and even while photography has
become more expensive, people are not shying away from paying as much as
Rs 5 lakh for their wedding photoshoot," said Rajesh Luthra, founder at
Delhi based RL Luthra Production.
"With or without taxes, no one wants to compromise on these frames," Luthra added.
26 Oct 2017, 05:48 AM