Till the other day, the Andhra Pradesh government has given the impression that the government would take over the system of online cinema ticket sales in theatres without the involvement of any private parties.
An ordinance was issued to this effect in November and legislation to this effect was passed in the state assembly in the last assembly session.
The bill – the Andhra Pradesh Cinemas (Regulation) (Amendment) Bill 2021, paved the way for an online movie ticketing system to be administered by the state government.
The government said in the assembly then that it has decided to introduce a transparent online ticketing system, on the lines of AP State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC), and the Indian Railways online ticketing system, to keep a check on tax evasions, and enhance the movie theatre experience in the state.
State cinematography minister Perni Nani announced that the online booking system would be maintained by the AP Film, Theatre and Television Development Corporation with a dedicated payment gateway to stop the tax evasion and enable the Revenue Department to collect taxes on time, without any irregularities.
But on Thursday, the minister declared that the government had called for tenders from private parties to operate online ticketing system in theatres.
“We have received tenders from two companies and very soon, the system would come into operation,” he said.
If the private companies are to run the cinema ticketing system, one wonders why the government has created so much hungama about the same.
There are already a couple of private firms like Bookmyshow.com, which are already operating this business.
The government should have directly entered into an understanding with these firms. Why did it say that the system would be run by APFTTDC on the lines of APSRTC and Indian Railways, which are purely public sector firms?
Meanwhile, Nani also announced that the government granted permission for the film makers of “RRR” scheduled to be released on March 25 to sell the tickets at higher rates for the first 10 days of its release, instead of first one week.
He said the decision was taken as per the latest government order, which said special rates would be applicable to those films whose budget is more than Rs 100 crore, excluding remuneration paid to the artistes.
“The makers of the film RRR have applied to the government for special ticket rates and the committee has examined the application. We shall give permission for increased ticket rates for the first 10 days,” Nani said.