The 2% cinema ticket cess is under fresh challenge in the Karnataka High Court, where JioStar, Zee and the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation have obtained notice to the State and continued protection from coercive action over non-collection.
Bengaluru: Broadcasters JioStar and Zee Entertainment, together with the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation, have got the Karnataka High Court to issue notice to the State government and its Labour Department on their challenge to the 2% cess on cinema ticket prices, and to protect them from coercive action for not collecting it [Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation and Others v. State of Karnataka and Others].
The matter was heard by Justice H. T. Narendra Prasad, with Advocate Gitanjali Miriam Mathew appearing for the petitioners. It will come up next on November 17, 2026.
Notice, and protection from coercion
Notice went to the State and the Department of Labour, and the Court extended interim protection to the broadcasters against any coercive action over non-collection of the cess.
The provisions under attack
At issue is a 2026 amendment to the Karnataka Cine and Cultural Activists (Welfare) Act, to the extent it imposes or facilitates collection of the cess; the petitioners name Sections 2(g), 2(o), 8, 9, 11, 13 and 16. Rules 2(1)(c), 8(2), 10 and 11 of the 2025 Rules are challenged on the same footing. The declaration sought is that these provisions are unconstitutional insofar as they cover the cess.
The petitioners also want a Labour Department notification dated September 10, 2026 quashed, along with all consequential actions that flow from it.
The rounds that came before
The levy arises under the Karnataka Cine and Cultural Activists (Welfare) Act, 2024. On September 10, 2026, on a petition by the Multiplex Association of India and PVR INOX Limited, Justice Narendra Prasad quashed the measures used to enforce the cess. His reason was that the Act had never been validly brought into force, since no commencement notification had been published under Section 1(2). That ruling rested on the commencement ground alone and left the wider constitutional challenge open.
A fresh notification dated September 10, 2026 then brought the Act into force from September 30, and cinema owners returned to the Court. A single-screen theatre operator, represented by Senior Advocate K. V. Dhananjay, obtained notice on September 29; it estimated that the cess would add about Rs 3.40 on a typical Rs 200 ticket. The State told the Court on September 30 that it would refrain for the time being from coercive action against operators who fail to collect the cess. The present petition follows these petitions by the Multiplex Association of India, PVR INOX Limited and others.
Where the challenge stands
The Court has not ruled on the constitutional challenge, and the State’s reply is awaited.
Case Title: Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation and Others v. State of Karnataka and Others
Bench: Justice H. T. Narendra Prasad, Karnataka High Court
Next Hearing: November 17, 2026
Appearances: Advocate Gitanjali Miriam Mathew for the petitioners.