Andhra Pradesh government has announced that ticket sales for movies in the state will be restricted to government websites. Only 2% of the ticket price will be charged as transaction fee for every online booking, which will benefit both the moviegoers and the government. The online sale of film tickets is to be fully implemented.
The demand for a similar regulation is gathering momentum in Tamil Nadu. The government is being asked to come forward and regulate the sale and booking of theatre tickets like in Andhra Pradesh.
Movie tickets in India can be booked through online platforms like BookMyShow and Paytm. For this service, these companies demand Rs 35 per ticket along with GST. According to Journalist Bismillah, this is the plundering of people’s money.
Bismillah suggested that to prevent this, the Tamil Nadu government should implement a policy to control the film ticket prices like Andhra Pradesh.
According to reports, the online ticket booking platforms have earned about Rs 130 crore from movies.
Online booking companies charge a service fee for each ticket, even if they book more than one ticket in a transaction. Producer G Dhananjayan said that the government’s intervention can change it.
“They should charge only a service fee once when you book 2-3 tickets, not per ticket. The government regulation is needed to reduce the amount of the service charge or set the fee based on the percentage when booking over the same specific ticket,” said Dhananjayan.
If the theatres in Tamil Nadu are fully computerised, the tax revenue for the government will also increase, according to Producer Dhananjayan. “For this plan to be executed all the theatres in the state have to be computerised and ticket sales should be regulated,” he added.
