The Telangana High Court today once again took up the issue of increases in movie ticket prices and issued significant directions in this regard.
The court heard a petition challenging a memo issued by the Home Department permitting an increase in ticket prices for the film
Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu. In this connection, the court issued suo motu contempt notices to Home Department Principal Secretary C V Anand.
Advocate Vijay Gopal advanced the arguments in Writ Petition No 1518 of 2026. He submitted that Home Department officials had violated previous court orders and had also concealed from the court the fact that ticket prices for the film had been increased.
Following the submissions, the court expressed its displeasure over the issuance of orders permitting the ticket price hike, stating that they were in violation of its earlier directions, and issued contempt notices to Anand.
The High Court said that movie ticket prices must be fixed strictly in accordance with the Telangana Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1955. It also directed that any proposal to increase the ticket prices for any film must be announced at least 90 days in advance.
The court said that no such orders should be issued in the future without strictly adhering to the directions already laid down.