The prohibition on convenience fees for online tickets by government orders violates Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution, lacking statutory authority under the Maharashtra Entertainment Duty Act.

JUDGMENT :

Jitendra Jain, J.

1. By consent of the learned counsel for the parties, Writ Petition No.497 of 2014, is taken as the lead petition. The learned counsel also agree that a common judgment could dispose of these petitions, since the legal issue involved in all three writ petitions is the same.

2. Rule and Interim relief was granted on 9 July 2014, staying the operation and implementation of paragraph 3(d) of the Government Order (G.O.) dated 4 April 2013 and clause (a) of the Government Order (G.O.) dated 18 March 2014 issued by the Revenue and Forest Department, Government of Maharashtra, which prohibited the collection of service charges/convenience fees on booking of computerized cinema tickets online.

Brief Facts:-

3. The Petitioner is engaged in the business of operating and managing multiplex cinemas in India, including in the State of Maharashtra.

4. On 4 April 2013, the impugned G.O. was issued, ordering that no exhibitor, owner, or agent should charge or recover any additional amount from viewers for online computerised ticket sales. The said clause (d) of the G.O. reads as under:-

(d) At the time of selling the tickets in the Cinema theatres through online computerized system, the Operator, Owner and also the Agent shall not charge any additional service charge. For this purpose, the Operator/Owner of the theatres shall not recover the amount due and payable to the appointed agency.

5. On 18 March 2014, another G.O. was issued, which is also impugned in the present petition. It is stated that all the theatre conductors in the State should set up their own service/machinery for online ticket sale within a period of four weeks from the date of the order passed by the High Court in Public Interest Litigation (PIL) No.66/2013. However, it was stated that, when making tickets available through this machinery, no additional service charges should be recovered from the viewers. The said clause (a) of the Government Order issued on 18 March 2014 reads as under:-

“(a) All Cinema theatre Operators across the State shall set up their own service/system for online sale of tickets, within a period of 4 weeks, i.e. upto the date 1^st April 2014 from the date of passing of the Order i.e. from the date 4^th March 2014, by the Hon’ble High Court and while making the tickets available through this system, no additional service charges shall be recovered from the viewers.”

6. It is the above two clauses, namely clause 3(d) of the G.O. dated 4 April 2013 and clause (a) of G.O. dated 18 March 2014, which are challenged in this petition.

7. On 29 December 2014, Section 2(b) of the Maharashtra Entertainment Duty Act, 1923 (earlier known as Bombay Entertainment Duty Act) which defines “payment for admission” was amended and a proviso was inserted which provided that service charges for providing facility of online ticket booking shall be included in the “payment for admission”.

8. In the present petition, we are called upon to decide the validity of the above two clauses of the G.O.s dated 4 April 2013 and 18 March 2014.

Submissions of the Petitioner:-

9. Mr. Thacker, learned counsel for the Petitioner, submits that Respondents, by the impugned G.O. seek to restrain the Petitioner from charging convenience fees on tickets booked online. According to the learned counsel for the Petitioner, this would be violative of Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India, since the Respondents seek to regulate the consideration in the contract between the private parties and i