Karnataka households' TV bills may rise as state plans 2% cess on subscriptions, movie tickets
While the cess is aimed at creating a sustainable support system, industry stakeholders are closely watching its rollout, particularly with television broadcasters likely to see a direct impact.
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The Karnataka government has proposed imposing a 2 per cent cess on movie tickets and subscription fees of television entertainment channels to create a welfare fund for cine and cultural activists. The move, notified through draft rules by the Labour Department, stems from the Karnataka Cine and Cultural Activists (Welfare) Act, 2024, which was passed last year to provide social security for those in the state’s creative industries.
The cess, once implemented, will be used to finance welfare schemes administered by a newly constituted board. The fund is expected to support artists, technicians, and backstage workers, many of whom lack formal social safety nets despite being integral to Karnataka’s film and cultural ecosystem.
While the cess is aimed at creating a sustainable support system, industry stakeholders are closely watching its rollout, particularly with television broadcasters likely to see a direct impact. For millions of households, a 2 per cent levy on entertainment channel subscriptions could mean marginally higher monthly bills.
The proposal comes at a time when the state’s entertainment sector is already battling regulatory churn. Just this week, the Karnataka High Court stayed the government’s controversial order capping cinema ticket prices at ₹200 across all theatres, including multiplexes. The interim relief came after petitions filed by multiplex operators, producers, and industry associations argued that the blanket cap was “manifestly arbitrary.”
Petitioners, including the Multiplex Association of India (MAI) and production house Hombale Films, said the government had no authority to regulate ticket prices, pointing out that OTT platforms and satellite television remain free of such controls. They also highlighted the inconsistency of exempting “multi-screen cinemas with premium facilities of 75 seats or less” without clear definitions.
The state, however, defended its interventions, with government counsel arguing that both the price cap and the proposed cess were intended to serve the “larger public interest” and align with constitutional principles of social welfare.
If approved, the 2 per cent TV and movie ticket cess could become a first-of-its-kind measure in India, directly linking household entertainment spending to the welfare of the state’s cultural workforce.
