The Supreme Court raised concerns at the high rates charged in multiplexes for cinema tickets as well as for food and beverages and said the rates should be reasonably fixed so that people will come, otherwise the cinema halls will go empty soon.
The Supreme Court said this as the bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta was hearing a few petitions filed by the Multiplex Association of India and others challenging certain conditions imposed by the Karnataka High Court while staying the state government’s decision to cap multiplex ticket prices at Rs 200.
During the hearing of the matter, Justice Nath said on the high costs of items sold inside multiplexes. “You charge Rs 100 for a water bottle, Rs 700 for coffee,” he was quoted as saying by Live Law.
Rohatgi asks Taj will charge Rs 1000 for coffee, can you fix it?
During the hearing, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who was representing the Multiplex Association, said that Taj will charge Rs 1000 for coffee, can you fix it?
To this, Justice Nath said, “This (rates) should be fixed. Cinema as it is declining, make it more reasonable for people to come and enjoy, otherwise, cinema halls will be empty.”
Then Rohatgi also argued, “Let it be empty, this is only for multiplex. You can go to the normal ones. Why do you want to come here only?”
However, Justice Nath observed, “There are no normal ones left and we are with the division bench, that it should be 200.”
Rohatgi says conditions imposed by Karnataka HC were unworkable
Rohatgi added that the conditions imposed by the Karnataka High Court were unworkable, especially the direction requiring multiplexes to keep track of buyers’ ID card details for cash transactions.
Earlier, the High Court division bench had earlier ordered multiplexes to maintain auditable records of every ticket sold, track both online and offline buyers to enable refunds if they lose the case, and get their audit reports verified periodically by a chartered accountant.
👉 Click here to read the latest Gujarat news on TheLiveAhmedabad.com