Goods and Services Tax

movie tickets

PVR Juhu

GST reduced on movie tickets: Film Industry welcomes govt's decision The film fraternity whole-heartedly welcomed the government's decision to reduce Goods and Services Tax (GST) on cinema tickets. GST has been reduced to 12 per cent for movie tickets that cost Rs. 100. It was earlier under 18 per cent GST. Similarly, GST on tickets priced over Rs. 100 will now be reduced from 28 per cent to 18 per cent.

TICKET RATES

Twitter

Ranveer Singh's Simmba movie tickets could cost Rs.25 less from January 1,2019 Close to his film’s release, revised GST brings film ticket rates down by eight per cent on an average

The reduction in(GST)—18 per cent from the original 28 per cent forcosting more than Rs 100, and from 18 per cent to 12 per cent for those up to Rs 100—was expected to bring a smile on the face of movie-goers. However, Mumbaikars are miffed because the national multiplex chain, PVR, have yet to pass down the tax relief to the audience.“Till last year, the morning shows atwere priced at Rs 150- Rs 170. On Friday morning, I was shocked that tickets for both Uri: The Surgical Strike and The Accidental Prime Minister were priced as high as Rs 185 and as a mark of protest, I decided not to watch either of the two films,” says trade analyst Amod Mehra, adding that the industry should look into the matter so viewers are not cheated.He was justified in feeling shortcharged because the Anushka Sharma-Varun Dhawan-starrer, Sui Dhaaga, which had opened on September 29, 2018, had been priced Rs 15 lower than Uri. When this was pointed out to Kamal Gianchandani, CEO, PVR, he explained the reason for the discrepancy in the pricing, saying, “We follow variable ticket pricing in Mumbai. Depending on the curiosity and excitement around a film, we categorise them as ‘blockbuster’, ‘popular’ and ‘ordinary’. Uri is carrying fantastic reports due to its topical subject, so we have placed it in the popular category whereas Sui Dhaaga was in the ordinary category. One shouldn’t compare the rates of the two films.”He argued that it is not “fair to compare two films that released in different periods”. “The best way to see the GST benefit is by comparing the ticket prices of Simmba on December 31 and January 1, as that would show a clearer picture. The benefit has been passed on to the patrons across the country and there is absolutely no ambiguity on this,” he maintained and also shared the reduced ticket price chart of Simmba.The chart above shows that there is reason for viewers like Mehra to be upset given that tickets for the same film at various multiplexes differ. “Though the tax benefit is huge, there doesn’t seem to be a decline in ticket prices across the spectrum. The distributor association should sit down with the multiplexes and fix the rates for big and small films and this should be done at the earliest,” he states.Despite the tax slabs coming down from 45 percent in 2014 to 18 per cent in 2019, there has been a surge in the average ticket rates across national multiplex chains. Ticket prices have gone up from Rs 280 to Rs 400 for evening shows at key city multiplexes which, according to industry experts, is one of the reasons for the audience to stay away from theatres.Bobby Singh, a cine goer in Delhi groused on, that Cinepolis (West Delhi) is yet to pass on the benefit of GST reduction. “Cinepolis (West Delhi) charged Rs 190 for morning shows before Jan 1, and they are still charging the same for morning shows of Uri,” he complained.