Hyderabad: Mahesh Babu multiplexes facing the heat of the GST, supposed to pay 35 rupees lakh | Hyderabad News

HYDERABAD: In another case of cinemas not transmitting the benefits of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to spectators in accordance with the guidelines of the Union Government, Rangareddy's anti-escape teams discovered that AMB Cinemas in Gachibowli pocketed Rs 35 lakh in January 2019 by breaching the anti-profit clause of the CGST Act.

The theater operated by Asian Cinemas and owned by the actor G Mahesh Babu for his part indicated that the amount of Rs 35 lakh was a figure "inflated" and that they had not received no notice from the GST. The theater also claimed to have obtained a new court order setting the ticket price effective February 22.

Meanwhile, GST Rangareddy Commissionerate forwarded the profit case details to the state control committee of the GST anti-profit branch. "The Center reduced the GST on movie tickets effective January 1, 2019. AMB cinemas did not reduce the ticket price, while the GST on movie tickets was reduced by 28 per cent 18% on the notes of 100 Rs and more. During the inspection of GST officials in Hyderabad, it was found that many theaters had not reduced the price, "said a GST Commissionerate source.

"AMB cinemas reduced their prices after almost a month (since the notification of the Center) in February. The undue profits they accumulated by pocketing a differential amount with moviegoers in January must be donated to the consumer protection fund. Companies such as Nestlé Products have repaid these amounts to the welfare fund after finding that they had made a profit of about Rs 100,000 despite the reduction in the GST, "added source. GST officials said measures would be taken if AMB Cinemas did not deposit Rp. 35 lakh in the consumer protection fund.

In response, a senior official of Asian Cinemas said: "No notice has been served on AMB Cinemas. The figure of Rs 35 lakh is inflated, the actual figure would be around Rs 20 to 25 lakh. However, as soon as we learned that the PVR cinemas had reduced the price of their tickets, we also did the same, going from 200 to 185 rupees at the end of January. "

"We have a new order from the Telangana High Court that has set the Rs 170 with an extra 30 rupees for the GST, which gives a total of 200 rupees. We will execute the order from February 22, which means that the price will return 200 rupees, "said the official under anonymity.

The state government has not made any order on the pricing of theatrical tickets for which theater directorates are approaching the high court for price fixing. In theaters where a court order did not mention that the price included GST, theaters reduced the total price of the ticket after a warning from the GST. But in the case of court orders stating that the price set by the court includes GST, theaters have not reduced the ticket price.