Multiplex Association of India (MAI) request for complete rent waiver.

Cinema halls and multiplex operators have requested the malls’ landlords and developers to fully waive the rent and common area maintenance (CAM) during this lockdown and recuperating period.

Unlike other industries, the cinema operators, according to the Multiplex Association of India (MAI), have “zero” revenue during the lockdown period and before that when several state governments had told to shut the halls to contain the spread of coronavirus.

“During this time of lockdown and recuperating, we will not be able to survive as an industry without your support. We request your assistance in granting us a full waiver of the payment of rent & CAM duties during the lockdown and recovery era, to help us tide over this unusual circumstance that is totally beyond our reach,” MAI President Deepak Asher said in a statement. According to the association, the cinema entertainment industry will take time to rise again, even after the lockdown is removed.

“Although the lockdown may last for the next month or two, it may take the cinema industry several months” (recovery period) “to get back on its feet, even after the lockdown is removed, when the entertainment supply starts to run again, and our patrons build confidence to leave their homes and start visiting crowded places like cinemas,” Asher said.

MAI claims to represent more than 18 regional and national multiplex chains and accounts for about 90% of India’s multiplex industry. Its members run over 600 multiplexes throughout the nation, with more than 2,900 screens. Even before the lockdown period began, several movie halls were closed.

Several state governments, including Delhi, Kerala, J&K, Maharastra, etc., had ordered the cinema halls to be closed until 31 March 2020. The government had later ordered a country lockdown effective as of March 25.

India is currently going through an unprecedented full three-week lockdown to avoid the spread of the virus, which ends on April 14. According to the Union Health Ministry’s latest report, the total number of cases with COVID-19 is 3,374 and the death toll is now 79.