Shell out more to watch Sachin at Wankhede

Watching cricket matches at city stadiums just got costlier.

In an attempt to cash in on the popularity of the game, the state government has decided to levy a 25% entertainment tax under the Mumbai Entertainment Tax Act, 1923, on all limited over and T20 matches in Mumbai and 20% in places like Navi Mumbai as well as in other cities in Maharashtra. Matches held at cities governed by municipal councils will be subject to a 15% tax.

This, in effect, means you — the ardent cricket lover — will pay more for your ticket to watch Sachin Tendulkar thrash a bowler over the ropes while the state will laugh all the way to the bank with approximately Rs20 crore annually. Ramesh Kumar, additional chief secretary, revenue department, said, “All one-day, T20 and T10 matches are now commercial and include an ambit of other professional activities. The cabinet on Wednesday took the decision to levy tax on tickets for these matches. The decision will be implemented immediately after a notification is issued in the next few days.” A Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) official said it is the government’s prerogative to levy the tax. “But it is the spectator who will pay the tax. The ticket could be that much dearer,” said Ratnakar Shetty, chief administrative officer, BCCI. The decision is likely to have an immediate bearing on the Indian Premier League (IPL), scheduled to begin in March in India. But IPL commissioner Lalit Modi rubbished the possibility saying, “This rule applies to the Mumbai Indians franchisee since they will organise matches in Maharashtra and handle the sale of tickets. The franchisee will have to pay the tax, not the IPL.” A Mumbai Indians franchisee spokesperson said they want to see the notification before making any comments on the cabinet decision. Unlike Punjab, which charges entertainment tax on cricket matches, Maharashtra had so far steered clear of it despite the big money involved. Opposition parties had slammed the state government for not levying taxes on cricket matches and blamed NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s association with the BCCI for it. The cabinet on Wednesday also deliberated on a proposal to tax Test matches, but rejected it after some ministers strongly opposed the idea. “Test cricket has already gone through a bad patch after the emergence and soaring popularity of limited over matches. Also, since there are very few Test matches being played, the ministers decided to exclude them from the purview of entertainment tax,” said a minister, requesting anonymity. Meanwhile, pubs and permit rooms will have to shell out a whopping sum as entertainment tax. Like discotheques, pubs in Mumbai’s five-star hotels will have to pay Rs2 lakh and the others Rs1 lakh as tax. The entertainment tax for pubs outside Mumbai will be half the rates of those in the city, according to the statement released by the state government. Permit rooms with live orchestras will attract a Rs50,000 tax per month. “Almost all dance bars have been converted into permit rooms with live orchestras after the government shut them down some years ago. There are nearly 400 such permit rooms in the state,” said Kumar. The cabinet will also hike the tax on internet protocol television (IPTV) and betting on horse races. All told, the state aims to increase its annual revenue to Rs360 crore from the existing inflow of Rs280 crore