PVR Cinemas and Cinepolis theatres are under the scanner of the anti-profiteering authorities for not reducing the price of movie tickets in line with the rate cut announced by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council earlier.

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A preliminary probe has been initiated by the state-level anti-profiteering committee against the two multiplex players in the national capital region, after some consumers complained to the committee that the two chains hadn't passed on the relief to moviegoers.

A complainant alleged the ticket price of Simbaa was not slashed at PVR theatres. A similar plaint was made against Cinepolis at Saket.

To make cinema viewing affordable, the GST Council had brought down tickets costing over Rs 100 to 18% slab from the 28% starting January 1. For cheaper tickets, the rate was cut to 12% from 18%.

"The state screening committee has sought replies from the two multiplex companies on the ticket pricing before and after January 1 in respect of all the cinemas owned by them in NCR," said a person in the loop.

"The profiteering amount will be calculated based on the details provided by them. Subsequently, the companies will be asked to deposit a part of the profiteered amount with the Consumer Welfare Fund," the person said.

They added that at a later stage, the probe is likely to be expanded to include the remaining multiplexes owned by the companies across the country.

Taxmen will also probe if the businesses have raised base prices to avoid passing on the benefit of the tax rate to consumers.

PVR Cinemas and Cinepolis did not reply to the queries sent by DNA.

Meanwhile, more cinema goers could approach the anti-profiteering authorities for a refund.

The state screening committee is likely to refer the two cases to the national standing committee soon. Next stage is a detailed probe by the Director General of Anti-Profiteering (DGAP) on reference of the standing committee.Benefits flowing from all tax cuts have to be passed on to consumers, as per the anti-profiteering provisions under the Central GST Act, 2017.

Section 171 of the CGST Act provides that it is mandatory to pass on the benefit due to the reduction in the rate of tax or from input tax credit to the consumer by way of commensurate reduction in prices.

Under the GST regime, the National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA), under the administrative control of the finance ministry, has been set up to protect consumers' interest, with the DGAP as its investigation arm, and a complaint redressal mechanism that includes state-level screening committees and a national standing committee.

The state screening committees, after collecting prima facie evidence, send a report to the national standing committee, which then refers the case to the DGAP for investigation. DGAP gets three months (extendable by another three) to submit its report to the NAA, which issues with the final order.