VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday issued an interim stay order on the government launching an online portal for selling cinema tickets in the State. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice DVSS Somayajulu issued the interim order, directing the government to maintain status quo till the final hearing on July 27.
The court was hearing petitions challenging the government’s decision to launch the portal. The bench observed that not issuing the stay order at this stage would lead to multiplexes, online ticketing platforms such as BookMyShow and others to suffer losses.
Further, with the multiplexes not signing the agreement by the government-set cut-off date, they stand the chance of losing their licences. The situation of single-screen theatres would not be any different, it pointed out. The court observed that by postponing the proposed online cinema ticket booking system for some time, neither the government nor the cinema-goer would lose anything.
The same, however, cannot be said in the case of theatres and organisations like BookMyShow. They stand to lose more if the government orders are not put on hold. Besides, the existing agreements would create chaos. Emphasising the need for an in-depth hearing in all the issues involved, the high court posted the final hearing in the case for July 27. Film exhibitors and Big Tree Entertainment Private Limited filed petitions challenging the government order for the sale of online tickets through a portal developed by the Andhra Pradesh Film Development Corporation (APFDC).
During the previous hearing, counsel for the petitioners argued that the government handling online ticketing would lead to a monopoly and a two per cent service tax would further burden the consumer. APFDC has made arrangements to sell movie tickets online through the portal, YourScreens.