Union Budget 2023: Will movie ticket prices, OTT platform subscription get more costly? Know speculations

The Union Budget 2023 will be announced in the Parliament on February 1 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and many new tax reforms and changes in existing economical policies are likely to be announced by the central government.

While many people have big expectations from the Union Budget 2023 in view of the recovery of the economy after the Covid-19 pandemic, the entertainment industry is also expecting some relief when it comes to the prices of movie tickets and OTT subscriptions.

Many experts from the Bollywood and film industry have batted for uniform and stable pricing of movie tickets. As of now, the movie ticket prices for single-screen theatres and multiplexes have a significant difference, which leads to a difference and the quality and maintenance of the establishment.

If the demands of the entertainment industry are met, then the announcement of the Union Budget 2023 could mean that the movie ticket prices in multiplexes could be lowered, leading to people from all economical classes getting access to movies on the big screen.

India has one of the highest entertainment taxes on movie tickets. While it is a state-regulated matter, the Union Budget 2023 could introduce a new policy that can regulate the entertainment tax on movie tickets, making them more affordable.

When it comes to OTT prices, no clarity is available on whether their prices could be impacted by the Union Budget 2023, since private companies have their pricing model fixed for different modes and formats of OTT subscription.

Indian viewers make up a major section of Netflix and Amazon Prime viewers, which are the two OTT giants across the world. Because of the OTT subscriptions being available across the country, the movie theatre industry has taken a major hit.

If movie ticket prices are lowered, it is likely that people will be able to rely more on the big screen for consuming content. To compete with lowering movie ticket prices, the OTT platforms may also lower their subscription prices.

The Union Budget in the past has not laid a lot of importance on the entertainment industry in the past, but it is likely that due to the growing demands of the industry, they might make tax exemptions for the coming financial year.

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