{"id":1298747,"date":"2025-08-12T15:12:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T09:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/?p=1298747"},"modified":"2025-08-12T15:12:48","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T09:42:48","slug":"maharashtra-govts-entertainment-duty-on-online-tickets-for-movies-is-justified-bombay-hc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/maharashtra-govts-entertainment-duty-on-online-tickets-for-movies-is-justified-bombay-hc\/","title":{"rendered":"Maharashtra Govt&#8217;s &#8216;Entertainment Duty&#8217; On Online Tickets For Movies Is Justified &#8211; Bombay HC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Bombay High Court has upheld the Maharashtra government\u2019s decision to impose <a href=\"https:\/\/www.storyboard18.com\/how-it-works\/bombay-hc-backs-maharashtras-tax-on-online-movie-ticket-booking-fees-78539.htm\">entertainment duty<\/a> on additional fees charged for online movie ticket bookings, treating them the same as traditional box-office purchases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Multiplexes-1024x576.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1298751\" srcset=\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Multiplexes-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Multiplexes-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Multiplexes-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Multiplexes.jpeg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The ruling was delivered by a division bench comprising Justice M.S. Sonak and Justice Jitendra Jain.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bombay High Court Upholds Entertainment Duty on Online Movie Ticket Booking Fees<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Multiple petitions were dismissed that had challenged the constitutional validity of the seventh proviso inserted into Section 2(b) of the Maharashtra Entertainments Duty Act (MED).<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The amendment includes convenience charges exceeding \u20b910 per ticket under the definition of \u201cpayment for admission,\u201d making them subject to entertainment duty.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Petitioners argued that online booking constitutes a separate service and should not be taxed under Entry 62 of List II of the Constitution, which allows states to levy taxes on entertainment.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They also alleged \u201ccolourable legislation,\u201d claiming the amendment was a disguised attempt to control excessive convenience fees charged by cinemas.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Court Rules Legislature Has Full Authority to Decide Tax Measures<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The court rejected these arguments, stating the legislature is within its rights to decide the tax measure.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It held that the convenience fee is \u201cdirectly connected with buying a ticket for entertainment\u201d and that differentiating between booking methods is unnecessary.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bench noted, \u201cThe distinction sought to be made within the entertainment area and outside the entertainment area is superfluous,\u201d adding that without the proviso, all such charges would still fall under the tax measure in Section 2(b)(iv).<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The court observed that the power to tax entertainment under Entry 62 also covers matters \u201cincidental thereto,\u201d meaning online booking fees are part of the admission process.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It clarified that the Statement of Objects and Reasons\u2014mentioning the aim to curb excessive fees\u2014does not affect the amendment\u2019s validity.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a result of this decision, cinema owners in Maharashtra must continue paying entertainment duty on online booking charges over \u20b910 per ticket, the same as with traditional ticket sales.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Bombay High Court has upheld the Maharashtra government\u2019s decision to impose entertainment duty on additional fees charged for online movie ticket bookings, treating them the same as traditional box-office purchases. The ruling was delivered by a division bench comprising Justice M.S. Sonak and Justice Jitendra Jain. Bombay High Court Upholds Entertainment Duty on Online [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":1298751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[8440,8285,8441],"class_list":["post-1298747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-entertainment-tax","tag-movies","tag-online-tickets"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Maharashtra Govt&#039;s &#039;Entertainment Duty&#039; On Online Tickets For Movies Is Justified - Bombay HC - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile &amp; Startups<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/maharashtra-govts-entertainment-duty-on-online-tickets-for-movies-is-justified-bombay-hc\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Maharashtra Govt&#039;s &#039;Entertainment Duty&#039; On Online Tickets For Movies Is Justified - Bombay HC - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile &amp; Startups\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Bombay High Court has upheld the Maharashtra government\u2019s decision to impose entertainment duty on additional fees charged for online movie ticket bookings, treating them the same as traditional box-office purchases. 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