Telangana: Cinema ticket prices hiked

Hyderabad: Movies, common man's entertainment, is going to become dearer in Telangana as the price of tickets has been hiked by 30 per cent. Not just that. In addition to the new revised price of tickets, the movie-goers will have to pay Rs 5 towards air-conditioner charges.

Even GST will be added to the price of tickets. In non-AC theatres, apart from GST Rs 3 will be charged as maintenance charges.

Following the revised rates, the minimum ticket price in the AC theatres will be Rs 50 and the maximum is Rs 150. In non-AC theatres, the ticket rates would be Rs 30 minimum and Rs 70 as maximum charge.

Tickets in multiplexes will cost Rs 100 minimum and Rs 250 as maximum charge. For the recliner facility, single theatres would collect Rs 200 and the multiplexes would charge Rs 250 per seat.

Officials said the last hike in the price of cinema tickets was four years back.

They said the film producers had been demanding an increase in the ticket prices as production costs had risen abnormally and the Covid-19 had also struck a major blow to the industry. It is expected Rs 50 crore to Rs 70 crore additional revenue would be generated from the new price structure every month.

The theatre managements have the freedom to decide the price of eatables and soft drinks sold in theatres. However, there is no clarity on the issue of parking charges. This has invited the ire of the movie-goers who feel that the government was ignoring the interests of the common man.

The parking fees were abnormally high though the facility should have been free. With the increase in the price of tickets, one would have to think twice before going for a movie.

In many multiplexes, snacks and soft drinks would cost twice the cost of a ticket. In the past some raids were conducted and the management were asked to reduce the prices but all that ended as drama.