VIGILANCE RAID IN THEATRES

Malayalam film industry has been witnessing a dramatic situation ever since the strike regarding the division of theatre revenue began in December 2016. On Friday the Vigilance Director ordered a raid based on the information that many theater owners were evading the entertainment tax and cess.

The law says that for every ticket sold, the theaters have to pay 32% of the price of the ticket as Entertainment tax and an extra 3 rupees as cess fees.

Allegations were made that tickets worth 80 rupees were being sold for 100 rupees in the theaters owned by Film Exhibitors Federation leader Liberty Basheer. Many see this move by the government as ways to put pressure on the Exhibitors Federation to withdraw the strike.