Chennai, Oct 20 (IANS): Registration of marriages has taken a hit in Tamil Nadu after the registration department website stopped accepting the payment of fees since Monday.

Several couples along with their witnesses who reached the registration offices across the state had to go back without completing the registration process. A registration department official told IANS, "The problem started with the payment gateway and some bug preventing the site from accepting the payment. We can start the registration process but with the payment gateway not functioning properly it cannot be completed. The technical team is working on it and it would be cleared soon."

Several families who reached the registration offices had to go back without completing the process.

M. Parthiban, a mechanical engineer who is working abroad and his newly-wed wife, Sugathakumari, a teacher had to go back to their home in Erode after the registration department said they could not complete the process.

Parthiban told IANS, "I have to return to UAE where I am working and I have come from my village to the registration centre but unfortunately there is some technical glitch. I can understand that there is an issue but if they resolve it soon, we can complete the process at least on Thursday and finish the procedure."