Why is AP Govt's online ticketing system faulty?

Finally, all the fears of Tollywood makers turned out to be true. The Andhra Pradesh government enacted the  Andhra Pradesh Cinemas (Regulation) (Amendment) Bill 2021 banning extra shows, introducing a cap on ticket prices in theatres, and restricting the number of shows. AP Cinematography Minister Perni Nani introduced the amendment to the Cinematography Act of, 1965 and the bill was passed unanimously in the assembly.

It is known that the AP government passed a GO reducing the ticket prices in theatres during the release of Pawan Kalyan's Vakeel Saab. Right after that Tollywood filmmakers have been trying their best to influence the AP government and convince CM Jagan Mohan Reddy to do away with the law. Top stars like Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, directors, and producers met Perni Nani and also AP CM Jagan at times and tried to convince him.

When Perni Nani sometime back went on record that they will not oppose theatre owners and exhibitors increasing prices during the Sankranti season in 2022, Tollywood expected a good decision soon. They expected a similar decision during Dasara but felt that Pawan Kalyan's aggressive speech undid their good efforts and they even disassociated from him completely. However, none of them brought them favorable results.

Perni Nani during his speech in the assembly said that theatres will be barred from selling tickets and ticket sales will happen only through the government-run portals and as decided by the government. He said this is something like the central government-run IRTC portal for train tickets or state-run portals for booking bus tickets. But there are many flaws in it. People can book train tickets, plane tickets, or bus tickets either online or they can go directly to the railway station, bus depots, and airports and get the tickets. For online services, a nominal price will be charged. Perni Nani however said that theatres will not be permitted to sell tickets at the counters. This seems to be ridiculous and flawed. One can get train tickets and bus tickets not only through government run portals but also through private portals like BookMyShow, MakeMyTrip etc.

The undue interest of the AP government on ticket prices in theatres ignoring other burning issues like floods in the state, rising prices of the vegetables, etc is not going down well with the public. Many say people should be given the option to choose what they want based on the quality and quantity and one cannot have the same ticket prices for single screens and multiplexes and also for low budget films and big-budget films. They cite the example of branded clothes and unbranded clothes which are priced differently and are available for various sections of people.

The decision of the AP government came as a death knell to Tollywood and many big-budget films like Pushpa, RRR, Bheemla Nayak, Radhe Shyam, etc. If this continues, one can be sure that the Tollywood makers will forgo the AP market and concentrate on other markets.