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India Today
08-08-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
Court upholds Maharashtra order to charge entertainment duty on convenience fees
The Bombay High Court on Thursday upheld the Maharashtra government's decision to charge entertainment duty on convenience fees collected during online movie ticket bookings. The ruling came on Thursday, after the court dismissed two petitions filed by the FICCI-Multiplex Association of India and online ticketing platform BookMyShow.A bench of Justices MS Sonak and Jitendra Jain said the convenience fee charged for booking tickets online was directly linked to access to entertainment. "The online ticket booking charges are directly connected with buying a ticket for entertainment without which a person cannot enter the theatre," the court noted, adding that the distinction between services inside and outside the entertainment area was "superfluous".advertisementThe case revolved around a 2014 amendment to the Maharashtra Entertainments Duty Act (MED Act), which allows the state to levy entertainment duty on convenience fees exceeding Rs 10 per ticket. The petitioners argued that this fee was for a separate service—online booking—on which service tax was already being paid under the Central Finance Act. They claimed the state had no authority to tax it, as it was unrelated to the actual screening of movies. Senior advocate Naresh Thacker, representing the Multiplex Association, said there was "no direct nexus" between the fee and entry to entertainment, calling the levy unconstitutional and outside the state's powers under the Constitution. He argued that selling tickets online was a different business activity from showing films in in its separate petition, said it was "merely a service provider" and not the entertainment organiser. It called the move a "colourable exercise of power," claiming the real aim was consumer protection rather than Maharashtra government, represented by Additional Government Pleader Milind More, defended the amendment. He said the convenience fee formed part of the overall cost of watching a movie and therefore could be taxed. The 2014 change to the law, he added, was aimed at preventing excessive booking court agreed with the state's view, stating that the power to impose entertainment tax lies with the state legislature. It rejected the argument that the fee was unrelated to entertainment, saying the service was inseparable from the process of gaining entry to a just last month, the same bench had struck down two earlier state government orders from 2013 and 2014 that had completely barred cinema owners from charging convenience fees on online ticket Thursday's ruling, while cinema owners and ticketing platforms can charge such fees, any amount above Rs 10 per ticket will attract entertainment duty.- Ends
Hindustan Times
08-08-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
HC upholds tax on online ticket booking fee
MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Thursday upheld the Maharashtra government's right to levy entertainment tax on convenience fees charged during online ticket bookings, whether or not the platform is owned by multiplexes. HC upholds tax on online ticket booking fee The ruling was delivered by a division bench comprising Justice MS Sonak and Justice Jitendra Jain, while hearing petitions filed by the FICCI-Multiplex Association of India and Big Tree Entertainment Pvt Ltd. The petitioners had challenged the state's authority to levy entertainment tax on convenience fees under the Maharashtra Entertainments Duty (Amendment) Act, 2014. The petitioners had challenged the 2014 amendment, which enabled the state to impose a tax on convenience fees collected when tickets are booked online. They argued that entertainment tax should only apply to the base ticket price, and that convenience fees – being a separate charge – should not be added to the ticket value for the purpose of taxation. They also contended that such fees are already taxed under the Finance Act, 1994, a central law, and therefore fall outside the purview of the state's taxing authority. 'What is sought to be taxed is the form of entertainment and admission thereto, which features a movie/film, and there is no dispute that the members of the petitioner No 1 (Multiplex Association) are engaged in the business of featuring movies/films. This is the subject matter of the tax or duty,' the court observed in its ruling. The bench further reasoned that access to a movie requires a ticket, and when such tickets are booked online, the associated convenience fees become a precondition to entry. 'A person cannot buy an online ticket without paying the convenience fees, and consequently, he would not be entitled to entertainment, nor would the theatre owner permit such an individual to enter,' the judges stated. Hence, they concluded that the payment of convenience fees is inherently linked to the right of entry into the entertainment venue. The court also drew a distinction between the Finance Act, 1994, and the Maharashtra Entertainments Duty Act, 2014, noting that while the former imposes a service tax on activities, the latter levies duty on admission to entertainment. 'For calculating the duty, one of the measures of tax to be included is the amount charged as convenience fees,' the court said, thereby upholding the validity of the state legislation.
India Today
11-07-2025
- Business
- India Today
Court strikes down Maharashtra's orders banning online ticket convenience fees
The Bombay High Court on Thursday struck down two Maharashtra government orders issued in 2013 and 2014 that had barred cinema owners from charging convenience fees on online ticket court ruled that the state lacked legislative authority under the Maharashtra Entertainment Duty Act, 1923, to issue such directives and held the orders to be unconstitutional.A division bench of Justices MS Sonak and Jitendra Jain observed that the prohibition violated Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to carry on any trade or "If business owners are not permitted to determine the various facets of their business (in accordance with law), economic activity would come to a grinding halt," the bench said. It added that customers are free to choose whether to book tickets online or purchase them at the court was hearing petitions filed by PVR Ltd, the FICCI-Multiplex Association of India, and BookMyShow (Big Tree Entertainment Pvt Ltd), which had challenged the orders banning recovery of any additional charges for online booking advocate Naresh Thacker, appearing for the petitioners, argued that the orders infringed on constitutional freedoms and lacked any specific statutory counsel, advocate Rohan Rajadhyaksha, submitted that the directions constituted an unreasonable interference in private business state, represented by Additional Government Pleader Milind More, defended the orders citing Article 162 of the Constitution and provisions of the Entertainment Duty court, however, rejected these arguments, noting that the cited sections did not empower the state to ban the collection of convenience fees. It concluded that the orders amounted to unauthorised restrictions on legitimate business practices and were thus liable to be quashed.- EndsTune InMust Watch
