Maharashtra rules patrons can carry outside food into multiplexes from 1 August; govt to crackdown overpricing

Mumbai: Come 1 August and you can carry food from outside into a multiplex. Yes, you read that right. You don’t have to buy popcorn at Rs 150 or samosas for Rs 80 anymore. Ravindra Chavan, Maharashtra Food, and Civil Supplies Minister has assured in the Maharashtra Vidhan Parishad that there would be no ban on food item carried by anyone into multiplexes. In the case of multiplex authorities stopping patrons from entering they would face action, he said, according to media reports.The government is likely to also consider asking multiplexes to sell food at MRP (maximum retail price).The issue was raised in the legislature by NCP MLC Dhananjay Munde who said the prices at multiplexes were exorbitant and the issue ricocheted into a heated debate. Chavan’s reply came in response to the query by Munde. The prices of food items and beverages are way higher than the maximum retail price (MRP) mentioned on the items, the members said.Last month, a group of MNS workers, including a former corporator, assaulted the assistant manager of a multiplex in Pune in Maharashtra over high prices of food items sold inside the theatre, police said on Friday.[caption id="attachment_540823" align="alignleft" width="380"] Representational image. AFP[/caption]Around a dozen MNS workers barged into PVR Icon in Pune and some of them slapped the assistant manager of the theatre, a purported video of the incident showed. The MNS workers were carrying banners protesting the overpricing of food items sold on the multiplex premises, PTI reported.The MNS was agitating in Mumbai and Thane too besides Pune over the high price of food items sold inside multiplexesThe Bombay High Court, hearing a PIL, had asked the Maharashtra government why it could not regulate the prices of food items sold at exorbitant rates inside movie theatres and multiplexes across the state.The PIL had pointed to the ban on carrying food items from outside the movie theatres and multiplexes.However, cinema owners and exhibitors are unaware of the change in rules. According to an IANS report, Cinema Owners and Exhibitors Association of India (COEA) President Nitin Datar said that they have not received any orders from the government. However, he said that they would comply with the change in rules once formal orders are issued, the report said.