Khanna Banquet hall proprietor Dinesh Khanna got his $2300 ticket Saturday night by City of Surrey officials who told him that he had 57 people in the hall even though he disputed, saying that includes staff members and a couple of kids. The City officials refused to listen to his pleadings and handed him the ticket anyway. 

PHOTO by Sukhwant Singh Dhillon /  Singh Video, Vancouver

By  DESIBUZZCanada Staff

SURREY – Indo-Canadian banquet halls are asking the BC government to close them down after putting up their hands, saying they can’t control unruly customers who are causing them to get recently instituted fines of $2000 plus, which have been handed down by the City of Surrey to many local banquet halls.

Khanna Banquet hall proprietor Dinesh Khanna got his $2300 ticket Saturday night by City of Surrey officials who told him that he had 57 people in the hall even though he disputed, saying that includes staff members and a couple of kids. The City officials refused to listen to his pleadings and handed him the ticket anyway.

“I make $500 profit and now I’ve got $2300 fine – you tell me if it’s worth staying open in this environment where we can’t control customers’ behavior and the officials don’t have any compassion or understanding how we are trying to stay in business,” Khanna told DESIBUZZCanada. “I have to rethink about staying open as this is just one big headache.

Khanna agrees with his BC Banquet Halls Association in asking the government to pull the plug on their businesses amidst COVID-19

Association president Sukh Mann says they’re in a difficult position between the stringent government rules and customers asking banquet halls to bend social distancing rules.

Mann adds they’re also losing tens of thousands of dollars in revenue due to the 50 person rule for large events.

“We’re fighting with the client and we’re fighting with the government. And we’re making nothing. We don’t have a choice. We’re not being treated fairly. How do we recover or recuperate our losses? We don’t make any money out of that. We’re just basically doing community favours,” Mann told News 1130.

Mann explains some people who blame banquet hall workers are not getting the full picture.

“Let’s put it this way, the wedding happens at the house. On Monday, a tent gets put up for 50 people and they put one up at the neighbour’s house for another 50 people, so you got 100,” he says.

“So now these people are at their houses, what happens there? They’re all hanging out with each other they’re drinking, eating together, dancing together, partying together … then the next day they come to the hall, but they’re forced to sit down on the table with their family members that live in the same household with them. They can’t interact with anybody else. They can’t dance, they can’t walk to the bar and get a drink. What makes them want to have a party at my venue?”

According to Mann, the association has asked for help from the provincial government for a specific plan that pertains to banquet halls — not restaurants.

“We have been given no guidelines on how to operate except to follow restaurant guidelines, and in many ways, that has been very challenging,” Mann says in a release.

Earlier this month, B.C.’s Health Minister Adrian Dix said the government would be cracking down and checking on banquet halls to make sure health protocols are followed.