TFPC President Vishal Krishna announced that Kollywood would go on strike from May 30 if the Central and State governments do no take necessary actions to eradicate piracy. In a petition to the Central and State governments, Vishal has put forth a number of requests.
Full text of his petition:
To the Central Government:
1) GST has significantly impacted the film industry, and not in a good way.
2) Cinema is an art. Only when a movie hits the theatre, the economics come to play. Bearing this in mind, the government should impose only minimum tax rates of four or five percent till a movie is complete and is ready for release.
3) Minimal GST for Tamil movies.
4) Central Government should institute a separate panel to monitor piracy and those involved in piracy. The websites and other agencies that illegally upload movies must be banned immediately.
5) New theatres must be exempt from GST and other taxes for five years.
6) Cinema must be granted equal status and benefits as other industries recognised by the government.
To the State Government:
1) Ticket pricing at movie halls must be subject to several factors: the quality of the theatre, the ambiance provided for the audience, special pricing during festivals and weekends to name a few. The State government must co-operate.
2) As of now there are 96 persons in the team dealing with DVD piracy, which is not sufficient. There has to be at least 1,000 people in the team.
3) The government should permit the film industry to form an association to tackle piracy.
4) The government has to regulate local cable channels that telecast songs, scenes, and movies without the producer’s permission.
5) Buses that telecast movies, and scenes from movies without seeking any permission must be severely dealt with.
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6) Any theatre that has at least two screens should be considered a multiplex.
7) If a theatre owner wants to increase the number of screens, the government has to permit them to do so quickly.
8) Mini-theatres need to be built across the state, and the process to get the permit for constructing one has to be hassle-free. Applications from theatres to add more screens, or for refurbishment, need to be processed within 60 days. The Telangana govt. has an effective process in place for it.