Karnataka’s ticket price cap could derail PVR Inox’s premium strategy, revive legal battle
With 215 of its 1,743 screens located in the state, Karnataka accounts for 12.3% of the company's footprint.
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The Karnataka government’s draft move to cap movie ticket prices at Rs 200 has triggered alarm bells in India’s film exhibition industry, particularly for multiplex giant PVR Inox.
With 215 of its 1,743 screens located in the state, Karnataka accounts for 12.3% of the company's footprint. As per a report by Moneycontrol, Elara Capital’s Karan Taurani said that the proposed cap could shave off 3.7% from PVR Inox’s consolidated average ticket price (ATP), translating to a potential 2.2% dip in revenue and a 1.8% hit to EBITDA between FY26–28.
What’s worrying exhibitors is the flat nature of the cap. Bengaluru’s premium formats like IMAX and 4DX, which currently command Rs 600–1,000 per ticket, could be forced into uniform pricing, straining ROI in these high-investment formats. Experts warn the price ceiling may derail further franchise-led expansion and push multiplexes to lean more heavily on food and beverage sales to maintain profitability.
While the state argues the move promotes affordability and accessibility, critics say it undermines the viability of premium offerings and overlooks content quality as the key driver of footfalls. The uniform pricing also threatens the fragile economics of single screens, which may lose audiences to better-equipped multiplexes.
This is not Karnataka’s first tryst with ticket price regulation. A similar cap was imposed in 2017 but later overturned in 2021 after a legal challenge led to a favourable verdict for exhibitors. Industry voices expect a similar legal route if the current draft progresses to formal notification.
As the notification remains open for public feedback for 15 days, stakeholders are gearing up for what may be a rerun of a long-standing affordability-versus-viability debate — one that pits consumer access against the commercial sustainability of India’s evolving cinema experience.
