Theatres evade Rs 90 crore taxes

Hyderabad: With cinema owners in Greater Hyderabad holding back money collected as entertainment tax, GHMC is losing Rs 90 crore annually.

There are 164 cinema halls with a cumulative seating capacity of 1.5 lakh seats under the GHMC limits. As per government orders, theatres have to pay 20 per cent of the amount collected from ticket sales to the civic body.  

GHMC has been able to crack down on a few multiplexes that provide online booking of seats. However theatres that are offline have not been caught as the number of costumers per show is unknown.

GHMC commissioner Somesh Kumar said the corporation is supposed to get Rs 220 crore annually (if all the cinema halls pay taxes) but is only receiving 30 per cent of it.

Owners escape by reducing the number of seats occupied. GHMC has chalked out a plan to pursue the issue of collection of taxes. It was decided that theatre owners would now have to inform via SMS about the seat occupancy 30 minutes after a film starts to the GHMC.

The information would be automatically recorded at the GHMC central server. Surprise checks would be conducted in theatres to check the occupancy.  

Road digging to be banned:
GHMC will re-carpet 320 km of roads from December end, following which no government or private agency will be issued permission for road digging or cutting for the next two years , stated the GHMC special officer.

Corporation officials have been directed to inspect the 320 km of roads. Mr Somesh Kumar, Commissioner & Special Officer, GHMC said, “Poles lying on the roads will be removed by December 11, 2014 without fail.”