Representative image of a cinema hall.
Credit: iStock photo
The Supreme Court has recently pointed out at exorbitant rates of tickets, food and beverages at cinema halls. As per reports, the SC said the rates should be reasonable so that people will come, or the cinema halls will go empty very soon.
The bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta was hearing few petitions filed by the Multiplex Association of India.
"You charge Rs 100 for a water bottle, Rs 700 for coffee," Justice Nath said, as reported by Live Law.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi representing Multiplex Association argued that the price for coffee at Taj is also high, and will the be fixed?
"Taj will charge Rs 1,000 for coffee, can you fix it?," advocate Rohatgi asked.
To this Justice Nath replied saying that the rates should be fixed, and should be reasonable.
"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," he said as quoted by the publication.
"Let it be empty; this is only for multiplexes. You can go to the normal ones. Why do you want to come here only?" advocate Rohatgi said.
To this Justice Nath said that "there are no normal ones left", adding that they are "with the division bench, that it should be Rs 200".
In September, the Karnataka High Court stayed the operation of the Karnataka Cinemas (Regulation) (Amendment) Rules 2025, which caps movie ticket price at Rs 200 across the state.
Justice Ravi V Hosmani passed this order in a batch of petitions filed by the Multiplex Association of India and others.
The Karnataka High Court had stayed the cap but had attached conditions where the multiplexes will have to maintain records of tickets sold, track buyers for refunds online and offline, and verify accounts by a chartered accountant.
Rohatgi said that the directives by the High Court were "unworkable".
"The learned judges think that tickets are sold through counters. Tickets are sold through BookMyShow. They will have the details. I don't keep any IDs. Nobody goes to the counter to buy a ticket," he said as reported by India Today.
(With DHNS inputs)