Budget 2019 expectations: Need clarity around taxation, direct incentives for merchants, says BookMyShows Mitesh Shah

Budget 2019 demands: With just two days left for Budget 2019, all sectors of the industry are eagerly waiting for the PM Narendra Modi-led government to live up to the expectations and deliver what is needed. The digital companies believe that clarity around taxation and the regulatory environment will help build a strong technology ecosystem and would be a significant needle mover for the Indian economy. "The past year has seen heightened activity in the Indian startup ecosystem with regard to funding as digital companies have attracted copious amounts of foreign capital. Beyond aiding the massive FDI inflow into the country, digital and tech-enabled startups have also enabled employment opportunities giving a thrust to the economy at large. Facilitating a conducive growth environment for such companies is key," Mitesh Shah, Head of Finance, BookMyShow told Zee Business Online. 

Shah added that global markets offer simple public market listing norms massive flights of capital overseas. He said that stringent capitalisation norms in the country have resulted in startups opting for global markets for a public market listing, despite having a strong Indian market presence. 

"We hope Budget 2019 will enable a better framework encouraging companies to list on the Indian bourses itself which in turn, would provide domestic investors an opportunity to participate in this burgeoning sector. Clarity around these norms will also put Indian stock markets at par with global peers in attracting large consumer focused Indian businesses to go public," he said. 

Shah believes that the framework for better allocation and more thrust towards digitisation, has helped the fintech landscape grow significantly over the last 2 years. But, added that providing more direct incentives for merchants to enable digital payments will further reduce the dependency on cash transactions in non-metro cities. 

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"80% of movie ticketing in India is done offline and incentivising merchants through lower MDR or cashbacks will help build the digital payments and financial services ecosystem that will in turn help grow the scope of entertainment online," he said. 

Urging GST Council to reduce Goods and Services Tax (GST) on movie tickets, Shah said that it will boost footfalls towards cinema consumption as also help alleviate piracy issues surrounding the industry. He said the government should also push for incentives to facilitate the growth of such industries.

"Live entertainment offers huge scope for employment and growth of the Indian economy. We hope that the GST Council along with the government can find solutions to streamline the existing tax structures for this sector as well and bring it below the current rate of 28%, to enable a well-rounded ecosystem," he added. 

Shah said promotion of schemes for creation of infrastructure for live entertainment avenues in metro and non-metro cities will help build India’s entertainment ecosystem at par with global standards.