AP Assembly clears Bill on cinemas to check tax evasion

Minister for Transport Perni Venkataramaiah (Nani), who tabled the Cinemas Bill on behalf of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, said that the government had proposed to amend the existing Cinemas Bill to regulate the ticket pricing and stop the exploitation of middle-class people cashing their interests. He further explained the current scenario of irregular ticket pricing, the number of screenings, unauthorized shows, and even large gaps between the taxes and film collections.

The Minister said that the government has decided to introduce a transparent online ticketing system similar to APSRTC, the Indian Railways online ticketing system to keep a check on tax evasions and enhance the movie-theatre experience in the state. The proposed online ticketing system enables the public to book tickets through mobile phones without queuing up at theatres or burning their pockets buying tickets in black.

He said that all stakeholders like producers, distributors, and exhibitors, have welcomed the decision but a few political parties are still politicizing, although they were not related to the issue. He stated that the online booking system will be maintained by FDC with a dedicated payment gateway to stop tax evasion and enable the Revenue Department to collect taxes on time, without any irregularities.

Later, presenting the AP Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill 2021, Minister Perni Nani said that the amendment is part of the Centre's recommendation of Green-Tax to save the environment from carbon emissions. According to the bill, in the case of transport vehicles that are 7 to 10 years from the time of the registration, a green tax of Rs 4000, which is half of the quarterly tax per annum, will be levied. Similarly, if the age is 10 to 12 years Rs 5000 per annum will be collected and if the vehicle is more than 12 years Rs 6000 per annum will be levied.

Also, along with green tax, there is an increase of tax on new vehicles which is one percent on the vehicles that cost below Rs 5 lakhs and three percent on those vehicles that cost between Rs 10-20 lakhs, and on the luxury vehicles that cost more than Rs 20 lakhs a total of 18 percent tax will be imposed.

In addition to these, Andhra Pradesh State Educational Institutions (Reservations in Teachers Cadre) Bill 2021, The Andhra Pradesh Agricultural Land (Conversion for Non-Agricultural purposes) (Amendment) Bill 2021, The Andhra Pradesh Universities (Amendment) Bill 2021, and The Jawaharlal Nehru Technological Universities (Amendment) Bill 2021 have been passed.