Bengaluru: While essential public utilities like hospitals, public transportation and petrol pumps have been told to accept the old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes to save the public from hardship, a film distributor recently announced that those who came to watch the movie Nataraja Service could use the demonetised notes to buy the tickets at the theatres.
But the move to cash in on the current situation was hastily scrapped after it was realised that it was not only illegal but could prove disastrous for misleading the public.
The director of the film, Pawan Wadeyar, explained there was a “slight misunderstanding.” “The distributor was under the impression that the rule announced by the government for public utilities was applicable to cinemas as well. After realising that ‘cinema’ does not fall under any such category, we are withdrawing the announcement. There will be no such facility for the audience,” he added. Supreme Court advocate, K V Dhananjay said any such gimmick would be unlawful.
“The November 8 notification issued by the Union government makes the Rs 500 and 1000 notes unlawful from midnight of that day. But some exempted utilities can accept the notes for a limited period. Cinema theatres are not in this list. So if they accept these notes for any film on or after November 9, they will have made a very foolish move as they will have no value and the banks too will refuse to accept them,” he explained.
