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WP (C) 2194/2010, 1312/2010, 2718/2010 & 4621/2010 Page No.8 of 45 (aa) "admission to an entertainment" includes admission to any place in with the entertainment is held and in case of entertainment through cable service and direct-to-home (DTH) service with or without cable connection, each connection to a subscriber shall be deemed to be an admission for entertainment;
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx (ha) "direct-to-home (DTH) service" means distribution of multi-Channel television and radio programmes and similar content by using a satellite system, by providing signals directly to subscriber's premises without passing through an intermediary or otherwise;

Explanation II: In case of direct-to-home (DTH), every television set of computer set receiving the signals shall be treated as a subscriber;"

"7. Tax on cable, video service and direct-to-home (DTH) service:-
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, there shall be levied and paid an entertainment tax on all payments for admission to an entertainment through a direct-to-home (DTH) or through a cable television network with addressable system or otherwise, other than entertainment to which section 6 applies, at such WP (C) 2194/2010, 1312/2010, 2718/2010 & 4621/2010 Page No.10 of 45 rates not exceeding rupees six hundred for every subscriber for every year as the Government may, from time to time, notified in this behalf, which shall be collected by the proprietor and paid to the Government in the manner prescribed.

WP (C) 2194/2010, 1312/2010, 2718/2010 & 4621/2010 Page No.39 of 45

29. Arguments were advanced on the part of the petitioners that there were material differences between cable service and DTH service and therefore Purvi Communications (supra) did not provide an applicable analogy. But such arguments cannot be sustained inasmuch as, it is not material as to whether it is the cable service or the DTH service which is the vehicle for transporting the content which provides entertainment to the subscribers. The tax is on the entertainment and not the manner in which the content of entertainment reaches the actual persons entertained. The tax is not on the content provider or the content transporter or the person entertained - it is on the entertainment. The subscriber may be the person on whom the incidence of the tax falls and the measure of the tax may be based on the subscription money but, as we have already seen, the incidence of a tax or the measure of a tax ought not to be confused with the subject matter of the tax.

31. Let us consider the provisions of section 7(1) in further detail. The entertainment tax is to be "paid" on "payments for admission to an entertainment". Section 2(m) defines the expression "payment for admission" to, inter alia, include [s.2(m)(vi)] any payment made by a person by way of contribution, subscription, installation or connection charges or any other charges collected in any manner whatsoever for entertainment through direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting service or distribution of television signals and value-added services with the aid of any type of addressable system, which connects a television set, computer system at a residential or non-residential place of subscriber's premises, directly to the satellite or otherwise. Let us compare this with the traditional concept of "payment for admission" as contemplated in section 2(m)(i) of the said Act to mean "any payment made by a person for seats or other accommodation in any form in a place of entertainment". This brings to fore the classical concept of payment for a cinema ticket or a theatre ticket. Without the ticket you cannot enter the place of entertainment and, therefore, cannot receive the entertainment. Times have changed, technology has changed and this has brought about a complete upheaval in the manner of delivering entertainment. Our drawing rooms have taken the place of the cinema hall or theatre and the WP (C) 2194/2010, 1312/2010, 2718/2010 & 4621/2010 Page No.41 of 45 cable TV or DTH connection has taken the place of the paper ticket. Similarly, money paid for the ticket has been substituted by subscription money paid for the relevant connection (i.e., cable or DTH, as the case may be). Just as there could be no admission to a place of entertainment without a ticket, there cannot be admission to entertainment provided through a cable service or DTH service without a connection. Section 2(aa) of the said Act, inter alia, stipulates that in the case of entertainment through cable service and direct-to-home (DTH) service, each connection to a subscriber shall be deemed to be an admission for entertainment. In this sense the DTH connection is the "virtual ticket"