The cinema hall owners in AP are demanding the government to waive the entertainment tax completely on films similar to the system prevailing in the states of Rajasthan and Punjab. They say that the entertainment tax in Tamil Nadu is also negligible.

It may be mentioned that the theaters in Maharashtra and AP pay entertainment tax to the tune of 45 per cent and 16 per cent respectively. Hindi, English films and other Indian language films are paying an entertainment tax of 24 per cent presently in AP.

In Maharashtra, theaters have decided to observe bandh for a week from March 25 demanding complete waiver of the entertainment tax.

A theater owner said in Hyderabad today that they have been demanding the government to waive the tax for a long time but the government is not in a mood to respond. “The government is getting revenue of more than Rs.125 Cr per annum as entertainment tax and it does not want to forgo it,” the owner said.

He however said that they were still pursuing the issue with the government hopefully and even suggesting it with an alternative. He said they have requested the government to waive entertainment tax at least on films titled in pure Telugu. “Most of the films are having English titles like ‘Mr Perfect’ or ‘Oh my Friend’ and movies with Telugu titles are very less,” he said adding that they are waiting for the government’s response on the issue.