All movie theatres in Kerala would be closed on Thursday, November 14, as a mark of protest. Four associations – Kerala Film Chamber, Kerala Film Producers Association, Film Distributors Association (Kerala) and Cine Exhibitors Association – are protesting the Kerala government’s ‘double’ tax imposed on the film industry.
“The entertainment tax on tickets that the Kerala government charges is on top of the Goods and Services Tax. It is only for the film industry that this additional tax is imposed,” says M Renjith, president of the Kerala Film Producers Association.
The Malayalam film industry is already going through a difficult time, he says. “The industry suffers a loss of about 84 per cent. It comes to about Rs 600 crore every year. It is a very difficult time for the producers. It is in such times that this extra tax is being imposed by the government,” Renjith adds.
It is not just the theatres that would shut down on Thursday. All film shootings would also be put on hold. “Production, distribution and screening will be stopped,” Renjith says.
When the GST was enforced by the central government, tickets up to Rs 100 had a tax of 18 per cent and tickets priced above that had a tax of 28 per cent. After film associations across the country interfered through the Film Federation of India, this was reduced to 12 per cent and 18 per cent respectively.
Most theatres had charged a basic fee of Rs 95, added Rs 3 as welfare tax, Rs 2 as service charge, 12 per cent GST and 1 per cent flood cess, so the amount came to Rs 113 per ticket. The state government then added 5 per cent increase on the basic fee as entertainment tax and another 5 per cent as GST, so the total now amounts to Rs 130.
“Already there are very few people who come to theatres these days. If the ticket charges increase so much, the number would further deplete,” Renjith adds. The theatres which have spent crores of rupees for renovation and accommodating modern facilities would suffer a huge loss. Even with the increase in the ticket prices, there would be no change in the net earnings of the produces, distributors or theatre owners.