Karnataka set to cap movie ticket fares: Details here

The Karnataka government is set to cap the movie ticket fare across all theatres, including multiplexes and languages, at Rs 200. The government has issued a draft notification (dated July 15, 2025) amending the Karnataka Cinemas (Regulation) Rules, 2014, and the revised fares would be effective after a final notification, 15 days after its publication in the official gazette. The government has asked the stakeholders to send their objections and suggestions to the additional chief secretary of the home department within the next 15 days.

 

This development would fulfil a long-pending demand of cinegoers in the state, who had long been raising complaints about the “exorbitant” ticket prices, especially in the multiplexes, ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 1000—a primary deterrent for families wanting to go to the cinema. With the single-screen theatres on the decline, movie-going had become a costly affair for families as the ticket and food prices in the multiplexes had become unaffordable.

 

In fact, the Siddaramaiah government had announced the uniform ticket pricing for movies in the state Budget 2025. Siddaramaiah had proposed a similar cap on ticket fares in 2017, too, during his first stint as the chief minister, since audiences demanded regulation of ticket prices in multiplexes. During the Budget, he announced a new policy to cap the ticket prices at multiplexes and made it mandatory for multiplexes to screen Kannada films on at least one screen between 1.30 pm and 7.30 pm. However, theatre owners opposed the order and managed to obtain a stay from the court.

Entertainment