How will the cess on movie tickets, OTT subscriptions help workers and artistes in distress in Karnataka? Premium

To address the issue, the Karnataka government last week announced that it is considering a cess on movie tickets and OTT subscription fees to support cinema and cultural artistes in distress. The cess ranging from 1-2% will be revised by the State government every three years if implemented. This cess will apply to cinema tickets, subscription fees, and revenue generated from the related establishments in Karnataka. The State government also said that it plans to extend the cess to plays staged within Karnataka. 

Beyond the glitz and glamour of cinema, there are untold stories of thousands of artistes and workers of the industry who have little to fall back on as they age or face financial difficulties due to health issues or other reasons.

To address the issue, the Karnataka government last week announced that it is considering a cess on movie tickets and OTT subscription fees to support cinema and cultural artistes in distress. The cess ranging from 1-2% will be revised by the State government every three years if implemented. This cess will apply to cinema tickets, subscription fees, and revenue generated from the related establishments in Karnataka. The State government also said that it plans to extend the cess to plays staged within Karnataka. 

These are part of the provisions of the Karnataka Cine and Cultural Activists (Welfare) Bill, 2024, passed by the Legislature on June 26. The Bill envisages constituting a welfare board and establishing a fund for financing schemes to provide social security to cine and cultural activists in the State. The welfare cess would be called “The Cine and Cultural Activists Welfare Cess.” Cine and cultural activists registered under the Board would be eligible to file a petition before an office, to be designated by the government, in relation to any grievances arising out of entitlements. The Bill would benefit about 60,000 to 70,000 workers engaged in cine and other cultural fields, Labour Minister Santosh Lad has said.

Speaking to The Hindu, Lad said, “There are many daily wagers in the cine and arts field like dancers, extras, spotters, stunt men, make-up artistes and more who hardly get any welfare schemes and are paid very little. We decided to bring in this Bill out of our very own experiences and stories heard from the industry. I had come across a very old woman cine artiste, she had told me how during the fag end of her life she had nobody to look after her and she was also low on finances. We could not help her then, but now the Bill has been tabled in the assembly, and I am sure it will go through.”

He said that this will also help the theatre community. “Theatre artistes do not have a commercial mindset as they put their passion before anything. This Bill will serve their welfare,” he added. 

When asked if levying cess would impact cinema goers or the daily collection, Lad said it would be a very nominal amount charged. “We have got around 2.2 billion ticket per day market in our country, and we are the largest cinema goers in the world. In Karnataka we have about 550-600 theatres, so 1-2% cess on tickets would be anywhere between 25 paise - ₹2 per ticket, which is very nominal. Along with the cess collected, funds will be provided by the State, which will go to the welfare of the artists.”

Rahul (name changed), a stunt man working in the film industry for over a decade, says a lot of schemes have come and gone, but there is no guarantee that it will reach them. “As stuntmen, we can access our health facilities only when something serious happens. But for smaller injuries we end up bearing the cost. Safety is still a concern. It is only after the infamous Anil and Uday incident, where these two actors lost their lives performing a stunt and actor Duniya Vijay almost lost his life with them in 2016, that our safety was given some priority. But it is still a risky job. Through levying cess, we hope the money will reach us. It would help if the government could help us get better safety equipment and easy access to medical services,“ he said.