Andhra HC suspends Govt order to reduce cinema ticket prices; Tollywood upbeat

The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday suspended a state government order reducing the prices of cinema tickets, which restores old prices and gives the struggling Telugu film industry a great relief as big-time releases are slated for this week and next month. 

The court passed the orders on a petition filed by cinema theatre owners challenging the Government Order (GO) 35 issued in April this year, reducing the prices.

It allowed the petitioners to sell the tickets at old rates. The petitioners argued that the GO was issued in violation of earlier orders by the court.

They argued that the government's intervention in deciding the cinema ticket prices was not appropriate and that they had every right to decide the ticket prices at the time of the release of new films.

Certain sections of the Telugu film industry had voiced their unhappiness over the GO and had urged the government to withdraw it. However, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government had defended its move on the ground that the cinema theatres were resorting to exorbitant hikes in prices before the release of big-budget films or films featuring big actors.

Last month, a Bill was also passed in the state Assembly for an online movie ticketing system to be administered by the state government.

The government went ahead with the passing of legislation despite reservations by a section of the industry. Minister for Cinematography Perni Venkataramaiah said that AP Cinemas (Regulation) (Amendment) Bill 2021 will check the exploitation of moviegoers.

Megastar Chiranjeevi also requested the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to rethink the government's decision to have a low cap on movie ticket prices.

He had stated that for the survival of theatres and for the many families who depend upon cinema alone for their survival, these reduced online ticketing rates should have the same flexibility as the uniform GST prices.

Several big-time releases like Pushpa, RRR, and Sarkaru Vari Pata are on the cards next which will benefit from the measure.

(With inputs from IANS)