The Madras High Court recently ordered the Tamil Nadu government to continue monitoring cinema theatres throughout the state to ensure that owners do not overcharge customers for movie tickets.
According to Justice Anita Sumanth, the State must also devise a method to recover the excess amount already charged and pocketed by theatre owners.
The Court was hearing a batch of three writ petitions filed by one G Devarajan, who claimed that despite the State government fixed a ceiling or upper limit for the amount cinema theatres can charge for tickets, several theatres continued to overprice tickets, particularly for films starring popular actors.
Devarajan sought legal action against movie theatres for overcharging for three films: Rajnikanth’s Kabali, Suriya’s Singam 3, and Vijay’s Bairavaa.
The petitioner also informed the Court that he had previously filed similar petitions, and that the High Court had directed the State to form committees to conduct surprise checks and take other steps to ensure the implementation of the Tamil Nadu Cinema (Regulation) Rules in two separate orders issued in 2016 and 2017.
Devarajan highlighted that the High Court stated in its 2017 order that the purpose of establishing the maximum fee was to ensure that the public had access to entertainment at reasonable rates, and that the provision should not be limited to paper.
According to the State government, the above rules empower the licensing authority to set the minimum and maximum admission rates for each class in air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned movie theatres and multiplexes across Tamil Nadu.
According to a Government Order issued in 2015, the maximum amount that film theatres in the state can charge per ticket is ₹120. The government informed the Court that the only exception to this ceiling limit are IMAX theatres, which can charge a maximum of ₹480 for each ticket.
After considering the submissions, Justice Sumanth had ordered the State to file a status report on actions taken since the Court’s previous orders.
The State filed a status report with the Commissioner of Revenue Administration, stating that the necessary action had been taken against the errant cinema theatres. It also stated that its Cinema Monitoring Committee had conducted surprise checks.
The High Court noted the State’s submissions and stated that it must continue to enforce its previous orders on the matter.
The Court stated, “Contents of orders dated 17.03.2016 and 19.06.2017 are reiterated. The state shall continue with the measures for monitoring of ticket collection. A suitable decision must also be made regarding the fate of excess charges discovered to have been collected by cinema theatres. As of now, the excess charges are retained by the theatre owners, and the State only imposes a penalty for violations discovered.”
