The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning to re-impose entertainment tax after September 2026. With this, movie ticket prices in cinema halls across Mumbai are expected to get costlier.
The BMC budget document stated that as per the amendment to Maharashtra Entertainment Duty Act, the responsibility for collecting entertainment tax/fees previously levied by state government, has been entrusted to the local authorities.
This tax was not levied in Maharashtra after the implementation of GST.
How will it affect tickets?
COEAI President Nitin Datar said that if a 10% tax is imposed, a ticket of Rs 100 in multiplexes can become Rs 110. Tickets in single screen theaters are Rs 30-40. In such places, even an increase of Rs 3-4 can be a big deal for the common man.
Concerns of the industry
Producers Guild of India CEO Nitin Tej Ahuja said that the idea behind the introduction of GST was “One Nation One Tax”. Then why is entertainment tax being imposed at the local level again, he raised the question.
FWICE President B N Tiwari said that the film industry is just recovering after the pandemic. OTT platforms have already reduced the audience in theatres. Now, if the tax increases, the audience will decrease even more. This will hit the workers, technicians and theatre owners.
He suggested that the tax should be kept low or structured in such a way that its burden does not fall directly on the audience. Otherwise, single screen theatres may face more financial difficulties.
Overall, if the entertainment tax is implemented, it is likely to become expensive to watch films in Mumbai and this may have an impact on the entire film industry.
The entertainment tax has a direct impact on the price of movie tickets in Mumbai, which are reportedly already expensive. The cinema ticket prices are already not affordable for lower-class families.
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