By Indu Bhan

Copyright indiatimes

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the Maharashtra government’s levy of entertainment duty on convenience fees charged by online ticketing platforms and movie theatres for booking movie tickets online.Dismissing the Big Tree Entertainment’s appeal against the insertion of a provision in Section 2(b) of the Maharashtra Entertainments Duty Act 1923 by the state government in 2014, a bench comprising Justices B.V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan refused to interfere with the Bombay High Court’s August 6 judgement that allowed the state to levy entertainment duty on online ticket booking fees above Rs 10 per ticket.The apex court had earlier this month dismissed another similar appeal by the FICCI-Multiplex Association of India against the HC’s August 6 order.The HC had upheld Maharashtra’s 2014 amendment to the Maharashtra Entertainments Duty Act while rejecting the petitions by the FICCI-Multiplex Association of India and BookMyShow’s parent company, Big Tree Entertainment.Senior counsel AM Singhvi, appearing for Big Tree, argued that such fees formed a separate service already taxed under the Finance Act and later the GST, and that the state lacked the power to tax them.Live EventsIt said that convenience fees are an optional service, already taxed under the Finance Act, 1994 and the state lacks legislative competence under Article 246(3), and the levy violates Articles 14. Under Article 246 of the Constitution of India read with Entry 62 of List II to the Schedule, the state government is empowered to levy tax on entertainment and receipt of convenience charges for online ticket booking does not fall within the term ‘entertainment’ and, therefore, the state is not competent to levy duty on the same, the company added.Online booking is separate from exhibiting films, so the fee cannot be treated as payment for admission, according to Big Tree.The HC held that the online ticket booking charges are directly connected with buying a ticket for entertainment without which a person cannot enter the theatre. The distinction sought to be made within the entertainment area and outside the entertainment area is superfluous, it stated in its order. “The online ticket booking charges, in our view, would squarely fall within the provisions of Section 2(b)(iv) (1923 Act) and, therefore, there is no justification in submitting that the state legislature does not have the competence to insert the impugned proviso,” it concluded.Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!
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Read More News onMaharashtra entertainment dutySupreme Court rulingMaharashtra Entertainments Duty Actonline ticketing convenience fees2023 Supreme Court decisionBig Tree Entertainmentmovie ticket booking feesBombay High CourtFICCI Multiplex AssociationGST and entertainment tax

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(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)Read More News onMaharashtra entertainment dutySupreme Court rulingMaharashtra Entertainments Duty Actonline ticketing convenience fees2023 Supreme Court decisionBig Tree Entertainmentmovie ticket booking feesBombay High CourtFICCI Multiplex AssociationGST and entertainment tax(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2025 Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online….moreless

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