HC allows APFDC to sell movie tickets online, no nod to theatres

While allowing the APFDC to sell movie tickets online, the court did not consider the plea of multiplex theatre owners to allow them to sell tickets through their own portals.

Amravati (Andhra Pradesh):The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Thursday gave its go-ahead for the process of online sale of movie tickets by the AP Film Development Corporation (APFDC). While allowing the APFDC to sell movie tickets online, the court did not consider the plea of multiplex theatre owners to allow them to sell tickets through their own portals.

The bench of Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice M Satyanarayana Murthy heard the petition filed by the Multiplex Association of India challenging the GO 142 issued by the government on December 17, 2021, to sell movie tickets online through APFDC.

Arguing on behalf of the association, senior counsel Sumit Neema said the government wants the movie tickets to be sold through the APFDC portal alone. The counsel informed the court that they have been selling tickets through their own portals and there is no problem in having two parallel systems.

When the bench sought the opinion of the government, Advocate General S Sriram said Paytm and BookMyShow have agreed to sell tickets through the APFDC, but the multiplexes were not coming forward in this regard. Sriram said the GO was issued as per the rules and the rights of the petitioners would not be harmed. The government will get a service charge in the process, he said.

When the bench asked the petitioner the objection they have to work with the government, Sumit Neema said they have their own system in place. The bench said the online ticket system of the government should not be taken lightly.