On 23 September, a single judge stayed the rules till further orders on a plea moved by the Multiplex Association of India and other entities.
Published Sep 30, 2025 | 4:35 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 30, 2025 | 4:35 PM
The Karnataka High Court. (Creative Commons)
Synopsis: The court directed all multiplexes to maintain accounts of money collected from ticket sales via debit/credit cards, UPI, and other modes. If the court upholds the government order, the collected money must be refunded to ticket buyers; cash ticket revenue can be used only for specific welfare programs, and the government must inform the public.
The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday, 30 September, refused to stay a single judge order that had stayed the Karnataka Cinemas (Regulation) (Amendment) Rules 2025 which caps movie ticket prices at ₹200.
On 23 September, a single judge stayed the rules till further orders on a plea moved by the Multiplex Association of India and other entities.
Karnataka government on 12 September, issued a notification capping movie ticket prices at ₹200 across all theaters, including multiplexes.
However, multi-screen cinemas with premium facilities of 75 seats or less are exempted from the maximum ticket price limit of ₹200.
According to Livelaw, the vacation bench of Justice Suraj Govindaraj and Justice Rajesh Rai K expanded the interim order stating, “The interest of justice would be served by expanding the interim order to protect the interest of all concerned.”
They directed all multiplexes to maintain accounts of money collected from ticket sales via debit/credit cards, UPI, and other modes. If the court upholds the government order, the collected money must be refunded to ticket buyers; cash ticket revenue can be used only for specific welfare programs, and the government must inform the public.
Multiplexes are required to notify viewers about this before screenings, and the Multiplex Association of India must submit regular ticket sales accounts to the court.
The bench on perusing the interim order said, “It is seen what is probably played on the mind of the single judge is the fact that if the amendment was not stayed and the petitioners ultimately succeeded in the petition, the petitioner would stand to lose the earning permanently while if amendment is stayed and petitioner lose appropriate orders could be passed about the money collected by the petitioners.”
The high court further directed the respondents to file their statement of objection within four weeks and posted the appeal for hearing on 25 November.
The move was first announced during the 2025–26 Budget presentation on 7 March by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
It is expected to bring relief to cine-goers, with ticket prices in some Bengaluru multiplexes previously going as high as ₹600.
This is not the first time such a cap has been imposed, however. In 2017, during Siddaramaiah’s earlier tenure as chief minister, a similar order was issued.
However, it was challenged in the Karnataka High Court by theatre owners – who continued to set their own prices despite the directive – and was later withdrawn.
(Edited by Sumavarsha, with inputs from Anisha Reddy)
