Khaitan & Co Represented FICCI In Bombay High Court Ruling Upholding Convenience Fees In Online Ticketing
Khaitan & Co advised and successfully represented FICCI – Multiplex Association of India before the Bombay High Court in Writ Petition No. 2221 of 2014 (“FICCI Writ”) filed against the State of Maharashtra and others.
The FICCI Writ was tagged with other writ petitions involving the same issue — Writ Petition No. 497 of 2014 filed by PVR Limited and Writ Petition No. 1755 of 2013 filed by Big Tree Entertainment Private Limited (collectively, the “said Writ Petitions”).
Through these petitions, the Petitioners challenged Government Orders dated 4 April 2013 and 18 March 2014 issued by the Revenue and Forest Department, Government of Maharashtra (“GOs”), which prohibited cinema exhibitors, owners, and agents from charging any additional amount for online ticket sales and mandated that all cinema operators establish their own online ticketing systems without recovering service charges from viewers.
The Petitioners argued that these GOs violated their fundamental right under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India by imposing unreasonable restrictions on their right to carry on lawful business and sought to impermissibly regulate private contractual terms. It was also contended that such GOs lacked constitutional authority under Article 162 of the Constitution.
The Hon’ble Bombay High Court, through its judgment dated 10 July 2025, upheld the Petitioners’ challenge and held that the impugned GOs were unconstitutional to the extent they prohibited the collection of convenience fees on online bookings. The Court held that the prohibitions unjustifiably interfered with the Petitioners’ right to conduct business and the freedom of private parties to decide commercial terms, and could not be sustained under Article 162 of the Constitution.
The Khaitan & Co team was led by Chakrapani Misra (Partner), Sameer Bindra (Senior Associate) and Ananya Misra (Associate). External Counsel: Mr. Naresh Thacker
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