It has been more than three weeks since Karnataka Chief Minister Siddarmaiah’s government declared that multiplexes in the state cannot charge more than Rs 200. The decision, that was proposed in the state budget on March 16, however, is yet to be implemented in the state. On Tuesday, Siddarmaiah said that the rule of ticket price capping in multiplexes will come into effect from May this year.
“From next month, multiplexes must follow the directive. I will sign the orders later this month,“ Siddaramaiah was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
Along with assuring that the government was indeed committed to fulfill its promises, the CM also said that stringent action will be taken against those multiplexes that do not abide by the rule.
However, when TOI reached out to officials in the information department, they said that the proposal had to be first worked out, following which, it has to receive the clearance from several departments.
Rs. 200 cap on multiplexes was one of the policies proposed in the state budget, that was touted to be a "populist budget."
With this budget being the final presentation of the Congress-led government ahead of the assembly elections in 2018, the budget had doled out many welfare policies. Multiplexes charging exorbitant ticket rates had been one of the long-standing issues the Kannada film industry had been raising.
However, while most of the policies came into effect on April 1, there were reports that questioned the delay in the Rs 200 ticket price rule being implemented.
The New Indian Express reported on April 6 that there had been no headway in implementing the rule, since the CM who also holds the Information Department portfolio, was busy with the bye-poll elections.
“The government is yet to call a meeting to discuss ticket pricing. We might not have a problem enforcing the screening of one Kannada cinema, but we are skeptical about the ticket price,’’ an official told TNIE.