The Tamil Nadu government is considering not imposing municipal tax of 30 percent on movie tickets for next six months if the theatre owners promise to keep transparency in the system, reported The Times of India.
The government has also asked the theatre owners not to increase the prices for movies starring big movie stars. The theatres in the state have been asked to adopt ‘computerised ticketing’ with the prices and taxes clearly written on the tickets. The government has also asked them to avoid tokens. For the theatres which do not have the facility of computerised ticketing, government has given one week’s time to procure the necessary equipment.
Chief Minister Edapaddi Palanisamy has warned theatre owners that if they come across any instances of malpractice, they will impose 30 per cent municipal tax immediately. He also added that the biggest fear for the government is loss of revenue. He stated that the multiplexes are not a problem, but it is single screen theatres that could cause loss of revenue. That is the reason why the theatres have offered to adopt transparent ticketing system.
Meanwhile, following the four-day protest by theatres associations, theatres have begun imposing 28 per cent GST on the movie tickets, so a ticket of Rs. 120 now costs Rs. 153.
This move comes despite no formal change to a Government order that dictates that the minimum price for a ticket in the state should be Rs.10 and the maximum should be Rs.120. Now, however, theatre owners have implicitly transferred the entire GST burden onto customers, without this being formally agreed to by the government.
"We are charging 28% on Rs 120, which is correct according to the GST Act. It is legal and we are following it," Abirami Ramanathan, Tamil Nadu Cinema Theatre Owners Federation President had earlier told The News Minute.
The theatre owners were on strike in Tamil Nadu from Monday till Thursday against the corporation tax of 30 per cent through local bodies. The theatres faced a loss of more than Rs. 20 crore due to the protest.