Five days after the Telangana government issued an order hiking prices of cinema tickets with immediate effect, it is yet to be implemented, what with divided opinion being expressed between producers and exhibitors.
On Wednesday, a section of those from the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce, comprising president C. Kalyan, treasurer Kodali Venkateswara Rao and D. Suresh Babu from Suresh Productions called on Telangana Minister for Cinematography Talasani Srinivas Yadav. The delegation apprised the Minister on how the GO announcing the hike had certain grey areas., what with the Goods and Services Tax set to come in force from July 1. A particular concern that producers expressed was how cinema, being categorised as a luxury and being fixed in the 18 and 28 per cent bracket, would impact viewership.
Mr. Kalyan said the government authorising single screen owners with a 7% per seat for maintenance, up from the existing 2% and 3% was a problem. Asked about how the discussions went, he said the Minister was very receptive to the points thrown up at the meeting and he had assured all possible help.
“Exhibitors do not need to charge that kind of money from viewers as they get income from multiple sources — from selling a samosa to popcorn, tea, coffee and soft drinks, from advertising and parking lots. We producers are the ones whose sole activity is expenditure and revenue from sale of the film. It needs to be set right,” the Chamber president said.
If this was the case with single screens, the real hit for patrons would come from the multiplexes. Speaking on the impact of GST for those preferring to go to multiplexes, Mr. Kalyan said that from parking to ticket prices to snacks, a multiplex experience, once GST came in, would cost at least between 25% to 30% more.
