Natti Kumar, the Joint Secretary of the Telangana Film Chamber of Commerce, has urged the Telangana government to allow theatres to raise maintenance charges per ticket in view of the increase in maintenance expenses due to COVID-19 guidelines.
In a letter, Kumar has said that theatre managements would have to incur huge expenses to ensure the provision of safety measures. A lot of people depend on the smooth function of theatres for their livelihoods.
Because of the pandemic-induced lockdown, small producers have waited months on end to release their films.
Therefore, maintenance charges per ticket should be increased from Rs 3 to Rs 7, Natti Kumar urged. He also said that theatres should be exempted from taxes and GST charges till March 2021.
