Karnataka High Court stays notification capping film ticket prices at Rs 200

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday stayed a September 12 notification issued by the state government capping film ticket prices at Rs 200, Bar and Bench reported.

Justice Ravi V Hosmani issued the interim order on a petition filed by multiplex owners and film producers challenging the state government’s decision.

The notification to cap prices at Rs 200 was part of the recently amended 2025 Karnataka Cinemas Regulation Rules. The price ceiling, which excluded taxes, applied to all screenings, across languages and theatres, including multiplexes.

However, multi-screen cinemas offering premium facilities with 75 or fewer seats were exempted from the cap.

A joint petition was filed in the court by film producers, the Multiplex Association of India and a PVR INOX shareholder challenging the notification, according to Bar and Bench.

“The blanket application of the cap across single screens and multiplexes, irrespective of cost variations, investment, technology, location, or format (IMAX, 4DX, etc.), renders the impugned rules manifestly arbitrary,” Bar and Bench quoted the petition as saying.

Over-the-top platforms, satellite television and other entertainment platforms remain unregulated even while the rules selectively capped film ticket prices, the petition contended.

The plea said that the rules also arbitrarily exempt “multi-screen cinemas with premium facilities of 75 seats or less” from its application without a definition on what constitutes “premium facilities”, Bar and Bench reported.

The rules violate a...

Read more