Danger Bells For Theatres In AP

The online movie ticketing issue has popped up once again in Andhra Pradesh. The state government is making swift moves to start its own movie ticketing portal. Meanwhile, the exhibitors are not at all satisfied with the decisions taken by the government.

Recently, the AP government released a GO regarding the online movie ticket portal. Many objections and concerns are being raised regarding this GO now. One of the major concerns regarding the portal is the payment to exhibitors and producers.

There is no clarity about when the exhibitors get their money through this portal. If a user buys a movie ticket through this portal, when will the exhibitor and producer get that money in their pockets? The government isn’t assuring that the payments will be made regularly.

It is being heard that the payments will be made collectively once a month. If that is the case, it is a disastrous idea for sure. Without giving any clarity on this issue, the officials are asking exhibitors to sign agreements and MoUs. If they oppose, their theatres are being seized.

In this way, the officials seized five theatres in Chilakuripeta a few days ago. The exhibitors are being warned that the theatres will be seized if they don’t sign the MoUs. To discuss the issue, Film Chamber’s big wigs are planning to meet in a few days.

The chamber is planning to meet with the government officials and discuss how this payment plan will affect their businesses. The exhibitors are not ready to sign the MoUs, and instead, they are preferring to shut down their theatres completely if the new rules get implemented. It has to be seen if the government pays any attention to these requests or not.