MADURAI: Their sigh of relief was short-lived as Unlock 1.0 came with its own problems. Hit financially by the Coronavirus-induced lockdown, the owners of salons, beauty parlours and spas claim they lack capital to invest in safety gears as stipulated by the government.
The State government gave the nod to open salons in early June, albeit with a set of restrictions and Standard Operating Procedures.
This includes the mandatory maintenance of register to collect details of Aadhar number along with the contact details of customers, constant sterilisation of hairdressing equipment and use of disposable towels or sheets.
The government also made it mandatory for the shops to disinfect its premises five times a day with hypochlorite mixture or Lysol and the shop owners were told to ensure availability of paper napkins for the workers.
Ask A Manikandan, who owns a unisex parlour at Anna Nagar in Madurai, he would say that though the government's is a welcome decision, a minimum capital is required to abide by the norms.
Speaking to TNIE, Manikandan said that most of the shop owners are already burdened with pending rents that got accumulated in the past two months.
"In the meantime, the cost of steriliser, used to sanitise hairdressing tools, which cost around Rs 3,000 earlier, have spiked to Rs 6,000. Plus, during peak business hours, it is challenging to manually sanitise the hairdressing equipment every time after use. We rather prefer to use sterilisers. However, the hike in price is unbearable for many now," he said.
Meanwhile, customers have become safety conscious more than ever before. A customer C Senthilvel said, "I was reluctant to go to the hairdresser at first as I was scared over COVID-19. And, I was taken aback when additional charges were imposed. I was not expecting a hike in charges."
On the increase in charges, Manikandan, who purchased 1,000 disposable sheets from Tiruppur said, "Each sheet costs Rs 15 to Rs 20. While a basic haircut in city parlours will cost around Rs 250, an additional amount of Rs 20 to Rs 25 is being charged to meet the investments on safety gears. However, only 10 out of 20 customers are ready to pay that."
Meanwhile, for the small saloons in the city, the investment in safety gears means not paying shop rents.
"If we spend on purchasing safety gears, we will not be able to pay the rents. Only a few supportive and safety-conscious customers bring their own towels or sheets. As not many would want to pay the extra charges, we are managing with the available resources to ensure safety," said Kumar who owns a saloon in Vandiyur.
His only solace is that the regular customers, earned through years of service, flooded the shop once the shutters were lifted. "They are our only hope to survive the trying times," he added.
Further, President of State Hairdressers Welfare Association, M Ramesh, urged the Tamil Nadu government to provide a loan of `50,000 through cooperative banks to all the salon owners across the State immediately.