Mysuru: The Karnataka High Court yesterday (May 11) stayed the price of multiplex tickets capped at Rs. 200 by the State Government. It stated that the price cannot be regulated on weekends and public holidays.

Reacting to the interim-order passed by Justice P. S. Dinesh Kumar staying the government order for three weeks till the next day of hearing, Vaishali Hanumanthu Padaki of DRC Cinemas said, “The FICCI Multiplex Association of India had approached the court seeking quashing of the government order interfering with ‘Dyanmic Pricing’ for movie tickets on weekends and public holidays . If the order is implemented it would cause huge loss to the multiplex owners.”

Asked if the removal of capping on weekends and holidays made any difference to multiplexes in Mysuru, she said that it benefited them, as earlier they themselves had capped it at Rs. 180 on holidays and weekends. Now, with the government capping it at Rs. 200 for Kannada movies and for non-Kannada movies it is Rs. 200 plus tax that amounts to Rs. 264 (though we collect Rs. 260 as it is difficult to get Rs. 4 change), it has worked out well for us, she added.

Earlier, the ticket price on weekdays was Rs. 150 and it would go up on weekends and holidays. “In fact every Tuesday we used to charge Rs. 130. The dynamic pricing policy was there for five years in our multiplex,” said Vaishali.

“If the content of the movie is good people will come and watch it irrespective of the pricing of the tickets. Raajkumara, the Puneeth-starrer is running for the past eight weeks and still going strong. It is the first Kannada movie to collect Rs. 50 crore,” she said and added, “if the content is bad then even if we price the ticket at  Rs. 80 no one will come and watch.”