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Andhra Pradesh high court stays Jagan govt order on online sale of movie tickets
The petitioners challenged the decision to launch a government-run ticket-booking platform, saying that it would render private ticket booking businesses commercially inviable.
The Andhra Pradesh high court on Friday granted a stay on the implementation of an order issued by the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government to sell cinema tickets only through its exclusive portal.
After a prolonged hearing on a batch of petitions filed by Multiplex Association of India, Bigtree Entertainment Private Limited (BookMyShow) and Vijayawada Exhibitors’ Association, a division bench of the high court comprising chief justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and justice D V S S Somayajulu, issued interim directions, staying the government order (GO Ms No. 69) and ordering a status quo.
The high court bench directed that no further action should be taken on the GO and posted the case to July 27 for a final hearing.
The petitioners challenged the decision to launch a government-run ticket-booking platform, saying that it would render private ticket booking businesses commercially inviable.
They argued that the private online ticket booking platforms have to do their business subject to a whole lot of terms and conditions laid down by the government, which deprives them of a level playing field. The government’s decision to take over the online ticketing system would affect their rights to trade, they said.
On June 3, the government issued an order making it mandatory for all the cinema theatres in the state to sell cinema tickets only through the online portal – YourScreens – to be operated by Andhra Pradesh State Film Television and Theatre Development Corporation (APSFTTDC), the designated nodal agency for all cinema theatres in the state.
The GO stated that cinema theatres in the state cannot sell tickets at theatre counters. It said the APSFTTDC would operate the online ticketing in cinema theatres through a service provider. Theatres in the state will have to enter into an agreement with the APFDC, which will undertake the sale of cinema tickets directly to the cine-goers through its platform on a collection of a service charge not exceeding 2% of the rate of admission into cinema theatres.
The cinema theatres will be granted permission to utilise the gateway of the nodal agency by being granted the Application Programming Interface (API).
The exhibitors have been refusing to sign the MoUs with the corporation as there was no clarity on the revenue-sharing model between them and the government. While the government said it would reimburse the share of the exhibitors, after deducting the taxes, the exhibitors wanted that they should have the first charge on the revenue, and they would, in turn, pay tax to the government.
APFTTDC managing director T Vijay Kumar Reddy allayed the apprehensions of the theatres that they might not get the money from the government on time on the online ticketing system. “As per the MoU, the money due to be paid to the theatres would be credited on the same day of the ticket sales,” he said.
