The latest GST Council reforms showcase a familiar contradiction in India’s policy approach, celebrating “Digital India” in speeches while sidelining its most influential cultural export, OTT platforms, in practice.
The Council rolled out tax cuts that benefit theatres and production houses: cheaper cinema tickets under ₹100, reduced GST on marketing materials, even relief on grooming services for film shoots.
These measures will certainly make life easier for traditional players. Yet, streaming services, the backbone of India’s entertainment growth over the last five years, saw no concessions whatsoever.
The irony here is sharp. In Tier-II and Tier-III towns, where multiplexes remain scarce, OTT has been the only access point for fresh films, regional stories, and global shows.
Families that skipped theatres during the pandemic never went back, choosing instead the affordability and variety of digital viewing. But while cinema tickets get cheaper, OTT subscriptions remain weighed down by taxes, making them increasingly inaccessible for the very audiences they empowered.
This isn’t simply an oversight, it reflects a policy bias.
The government still views theatres as the “real” industry deserving protection, while streaming is treated as an indulgence. Yet, it is digital that is exporting India’s narratives abroad, creating global conversations around series and films once confined to local markets.
If GST relief can stimulate cinema growth, why not streaming too? By neglecting OTT, the Council risks stalling India’s most dynamic entertainment sector, one that should be seen not as a luxury, but as the cultural infrastructure of the future.
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