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Bhubaneswar, June 19: The good things in life aren’t free. True. Eating out, watching movies, spending holidays at a fancy resort—all that takes a toll on your monthly budget. Those happy hours with friends and families have always pinched your pockets. But, will these outings be a little different post July1? Well, the Goods and Services Tax will be implemented soon. The new tax norm will not leave your outings as well. Orissa POST interacted with the luxe hotels and singlescreen cinema halls to find out how will things be different for Bhubaneswarites. We found that the denizens may have to pay more to watch movies at single screen cinema halls. The 28% GST slab for the entertainment industry will hit the dying single screen theatres to a great extent. Unlike metro cities,
Bhubaneswar has a fair share of the single screen cinema halls. There are about seven of these theatres across the city. Our correspondent interacted with the hall owners to know how they are looking at GST. “Bhubaneswar is known for its single screens. The cinema tickets in these theatres range from Rs 80 to Rs 120. That’s cheap, there’s no doubt about it. But, GST will affect the income of the film halls and producers. There is a possibility that cinema halls may increase the price of tickets. This will hamper the outings of localities. Thus, the state government must talk to Centre and request them to lower the GST for entertainment,” Lingaraj Panda of Maharaja Picture Palace said. While watching movies will be a little costlier than before, there’s some cheer for those who like to dine at five-star and luxury hotels. The bills at these places are
expected to get cheaper. Recently, the GST council decided that the tax for restaurants in five-star hotels will be reduced to 18% from 28%. This will bring the rates at par with standalone airconditioned restaurants. Orissa POSTtalked with owners of some of the prominent hotels and fine-dining restaurants in the city to get their reaction on this. “One tax policy is a welcome gesture. But we are yet to find out how this is going to affect customers in Bhubaneswar,” said Satish Satpathy of Mainland China. “The rates and slabs are very confusing. The government has not been able to clear all the confusions. So, I really don’t know how this will ultimately affect our customers,” said Santanu Das of Ginger hotel. “Our customers come from various walks of life. They come from both upper middle class and middle class. So, we don’t know how GST will impact their day outs. We can only wait and watch,” Rabindra Das of Hotel HHI said.
GenX voices concerns
Meanwhile, youngsters in the city are caught in a dilemma over
GST and its impact on their daily lives. “I don’t know for sure how this new tax will impact my outings. But, it will definitely dampen our movie plans. It will burn a hole in our pockets,” said Ankita Singh. Some youngsters also believed that under the pretext of GST, hotels and restaurants might increase the rates of food and drinks. “It is promising to bring clarity in taxes. We are sometimes left confused while paying for food bills because of various taxes added on the bills. But, there are problems as well. Hotels and restaurants will definitely try to increase the
rates,” Sushree Swagatika, said. Besides, the entertainment industry, youngsters were apprehensive about its impact on online purchases. “It will adversely impact our internet/telephone bills, movies tickets, online purchases of branded stuffs. This is disheartening,” Sumeet Singh Thakur said.
