Just as retail outlets charge customers for shopping bags to send out the message that they bring their own bags next time, an apartment complex in Mandaveli offers visitors a mask, but with a small price tagged to it.
Shanthi Gulmohar Apartments in Mandaveli recently started charging ₹5 for a mask it would hand out to those who had turned up at the complex without wearing one. The apartment committee has empowered the security staff to stop visitors at the gate, if they were found without a face mask.
“All these months, masks were stocked with the security personnel at the gate. Those visiting the apartment without wearing a mask were being handed one, at no cost,” says Lalithaa Mahesh, a resident and former secretary of the apartment Association.
The new management committee felt attaching a price to the mask would encourage more responsible behaviour from them in the future. Besides, people do not always value things that come for free.
“Now, the masks are stocked with the facility manager who collects a token ₹5 before handing one to a visitor without a mask,” says Lalithaa.
