Andhra Pradesh High Court, on Monday, clarified that the orders passed by it regarding the relaxation in pricing of movie tickets will be applicable across the state, and not only to those theatre owners who filed petitions opposing the April 2021 government order on ticket prices (GO 35).
The court’s statement comes after the state government contended that the orders would only be applicable to those who filed the petitions.
In April, the Andhra Pradesh government issued GO 35, capping the ticket prices in cinema halls across the state.
However, ahead of the release of a line of big-budget Telugu films in December, a few theatre owners filed petitions with the High Court challenging the order, arguing that government intervention in ticket pricing was not appropriate.
Subsequently, the AP High Court suspended the state government’s order.
In view of this, the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government filed a lunch motion petition asking for a stay on the High Court order. When the hearing for this came up on Thursday, the court ordered the theatre owners to present a proposal for revised ticket prices before the joint collector, who would later take a decision on the pricing in consultation with a government committee.
On Monday’s hearing, advocate B Adinarayana Rao, arguing on behalf of the theatre owners, said that the Home Secretary asserted that the HC orders would apply only to those theatre owners who filed the petition and sought clarity. In response, Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice M Satyanarayana Murthy stated that the relaxation in pricing of tickets would be applicable across the state.
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The court then adjourned the matter to Thursday as the counsel for the Home Department sought more time to submit additional documents.
Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh government released GO 142 handing over the responsibility of selling movie tickets through an online portal, similar to IRCTC, to the Andhra Pradesh Film Development Corporation. This new online system is expected to be made available soon.