Andhra Pradesh High Court grants relief to BookMyShow; stays operation of online movie ticketing platform proposed by State

The Andhra Pradesh High Court last week restrained the State government from operating an online ticketing solution for cinema theatres under Section 5A of the Andhra Pradesh Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1955 [Bigtree Entertainment Pvt Ltd v State of Andhra Pradesh]..The interim order was passed by a bench of Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice DVSS Somayajulu on a petition moved by online ticketing platform BookMyShow which contended that it was being forced to sell tickets to movie goers through a nodal agency by paying service charge of 2 percent while State's proposed platform could sell tickets directly to consumers. “There shall be an interim order as prayed for and the respondents are restrained from giving effect to and operating the online ticketing solution for ticketing for the cinema theatres and cine-goers in Andhra Pradesh under online system as enacted under the impugned Act, Rules or under the impugned provisions,” the Court ordered.The plea challenged Section 5A of the Act by which every licensee was obligated to sell cinema tickets through an online ticket platform of the government company only on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed..The petitioners informed the Court that via a nodal agency, the State would undertake the sale of cinema tickets directly to cine-goers at the maximum service charge of 2 percent.But existing ticket aggregators could continue their business only through a gateway provided by the nodal agency, and by paying a service charge of 2 percent on the rate of admission..It was the petitioner’s concern that they will end up charging more from customers due to the rate of admission. The petitioners, therefore, contended that while the State could enter into the business, it could not be both the facilitator and competitor.It was also submitted that the petitioner’s right to carry on trade and profession was being curtailed and undue advantages were being given to the Nodal Agency and its service provider..The State, however, argued that the Cinema Act regulated the entire issue relating to exhibition of films and consequently, the government had the power to enter this area..The Court after hearing all parties at length, only considered the case for interim relief which required the petitioners to make out a prima facie case and show that there was a triable issue which required further adjudication..In this regard, it was held that the issues raised by the petitioners needed to be gone into detail and heard at length.“Therefore, this Court is of the opinion that the petitioners have made out more than a prima facie case,” the bench held..It ruled that greater harm would be caused to the petitioners if the interim order is not granted at this stage since they would be at risk of their agreements with third parties running into deeper difficulties.“After weighing the competing submissions, this Court opines for now that the comparative mischief is higher for the petitioners.”.The case was listed on July 27, 2022 for final hearing..Multiplex Association of India was represented by Senior Advocate CV Mohan Reddy with advocates Sahil Narang, Dhritiman Roy, Ayushman Kacker, Samriddhi Shukla, Avinash Desai and Siva Darshan.Big Tree Entertainment Private Limtied (BookMyShow) was represented by Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi with Rajat Jariwal, Shruti Khanijow, Saniya, Ayushi Khurana and Sai Sanjay Suraneni.Advocate N Ashwani Kumar also appeared for the petitioners. Advocate General Subrahmanyam Sriram represented the respondents..[Read Order]