Fee for marriage gardens in Jaipur: Here is what owners have to pay

Jaipur: Marriage gardens owners in Jaipur have to pay various types of fees to the Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC). They include annual registration fee.

If you own a marriage garden in Jaipur, Here is what you need to know:

• Registration fee: The annual registering fee for a venue covering between 1000 to 3000 square metres is between 10 to 20 thousand rupees.
• For the ones above 5000 sq. m, the owners are required to pay an amount of Rs. 6000. The cleaning fee is Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 20,000 for areas up to 1500 sq. m and 5,000 sq. m respectively.
• For the ones above 5000 sq. m, the amount is capped at Rs. 30,000. Every year these amounts are recovered in two phases in the months of April and September. The JMC also slaps fines on those venues that leave the garbage in the open instead of getting it packed in garbage bags which are then collected by the JMC workers.

The rules regarding the security arrangements make it mandatory for venue owners to deploy two guards for an area up to 1500 sq. m. Three guards are a must for the venues covering an area up to 5000 m., while a venue with a larger area than this will requires minimum four guards. Hindu marriages involve fire rituals hence obtaining an NOC (No Objection Certificate) is also compulsory for the venue owners. The charges for these are Rs. 1000, Rs. 2000, and Rs. 3000 for areas up to 1500 sq. m, 5000 sq. m, and above this respectively. These charges are to be paid on an annual basis.

The wedding venue license has to be renewed every year. Owners are given up to 3 months from the expiry date to renew it, however, with a late payment fee of 10% of the due amount. For someone missing this deadline as well, a daily penalty of Rs. 100 also becomes applicable.

Apart from these, charges like urban development fees are also applicable. The number of unregistered venues clearly indicates that the owners have been avoiding these charges. The onus is now on JMC to take stricter measures against such venues.

Though the JMC claims to be taking strict action against illegal marriage gardens in the city, nearly 200 wedding venues (marriage gardens) in are reportedly operating without permission.

JMC has only sealed about 60 such venues from the 8 zones under its jurisdiction. There are nearly 550 wedding venues registered with JMC. The unregistered venues present a stark reality about the number of people conducting business illegally and making a handsome amount of money during the wedding season.

Many people are approaching JMC to find out if the wedding venue they are selecting is legal.

“Imagine a situation when you don’t know that the venue you selected for your son’s wedding is illegal and you come to know about it when the event is happening and JMC officials turn up to stop it. It is always better to verify ahead of time if the venue is legal,” said Ashok Mantri, a resident of Jamuna Dairy in Sodala.