I&PR and Transport Minister Perni Venkataramaiah on Sunday criticised Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan for his comments on the online ticketing system, for which a request had been made by the film industry way back in 2003.
Mr. Venkataramaiah pointed out that the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce (TFCC) honorary secretary Damodar Prasad had submitted a written plea for online ticketing on December 24, 2016, and again on December 1, 2018.
Actor Chiranjeevi and other Tollywood representatives had met Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy in June 2020, and made another request for the online system of issuing tickets, the Minister stated.
Addressing the media, Mr. Venkataramaiah said industry bigwigs had met him on September 20, 2021, and submitted another request for online ticketing, and the State government agreed to it after duly considering the requests.
The Minister said the government would run only an online portal and the theatre staff would sell the tickets online. The amount collected through the portal would be transferred to the theatre owners through a Reserve Bank gateway the next day, he added.
He flayed Mr. Kalyan for alleging that the government planned to take loans by showing the revenue generated through the online ticketing system as its own. Even if the government intended to raise loans in the said manner, it would be barely sufficient to implement the slew of welfare schemes launched in the last more than two years, the Minister said.
Mr. Venkataramaiah insisted that Mr. Kalyan question the Prime Minister and the Central Government on the GST and other taxes levied on the film industry, and various cases being probed by the Central agencies.
Meanwhile, TFCC president Narayandas Kishandas Narang said in a release that the views expressed by a few individuals on the film industry with regard to the impact of bifurcation, the COVID-19 pandemic and other issues were not the voices of the industry as a whole.
“The Chief Ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have been supportive of the film industry and their cooperation is required at this juncture,” he observed.
Mr. Narang said a delegation met Mr. Venkataramaiah upon his invitation and discussed various issues, and they were grateful to the Chief Minister for his positive response to their concerns.
Staff Reporter in Vizianagaram writes: Minister for Municipal Administration Botcha Satyanarayana said the online ticketing system was aimed at protecting the interests of the common man.
Advising Mr. Pawan Kalyan not to make baseless allegations against the government, he said, “Many producers and distributors have sought the system to prevent evasion of taxes.”
