Jamshedpur, Aug. 9: Take heart all you cine-goers ? young and old!

With multiplex culture fast catching up in the steel city, movie buffs would now get the facility to purchase cinema tickets sitting at home.

Taking the lead is Payal Talkies at Mango, which has decided to introduce a facility christened ?dial-a-ticket?.

In this system, the cine-goers will be able to book a ticket in advance over the telephone. The authorities of Payal Talkies informed The Telegraph that the facility is being introduced before the release of the Aamir Khan-starrer Mangal Pandey, The Rising on August 12.

?The phone lines ? 3095999 and 2463870 ? will be open to movie buffs from tomorrow. It will be applicable for all the four shows at 11.30, 2.30, 5.30 and 8.30,? said Vishal Sawa, owner of Payal Talkies.

But as all good things in life come with a rider, here too, a minimum of two tickets will be issued under the new facility. Those opting for the dial-a-ticket facility will also have to pay an additional of Rs 10 per ticket as the delivery charge, Sawa said.

Further, the booking for a ticket under the new facility will be accepted at least one day in advance, he added.

According to the officials of Payal Talkies, the facility is being introduced keeping in mind the problems faced by the cine-goers of the steel city.

?We have often come across complaints that the cine-goers had to return empty-handed as they could not get a ticket due to heavy rush at the counters. We have introduced the system as our theatre is located at Mango, which is quite far from the city. People often feel angry if they do not get a ticket after travelling such a long distance,? said a senior official of Payal Talkies.

The new system will help improve the earnings of the theatre and make up for the loss the halls had to incur due to compound entertainment tax, the officials said.

?With the tele-booking system, Payal Talkies will become the first theatre in the state to have introduced such a facility. It will definitely attract more people and make up for the loss that the hall owners had to incur due to high rate of compound entertainment tax during the last two decades,? said Gopal Agrawal, general secretary of the Jharkhand Film Exhibitors? Association.

The compound tax was introduced by the erstwhile Bihar government in 1985, which fortunately, was recently reduced by the Jharkhand government.

?The cable channels and video business have severely affected our business. The move by Payal Talkies will help motivate other theatre owners to introduce such a facility,? he added.

The Jharkhand Film Exhibitors? Association (JFEA) hailed the initiative of Payal Talkies to implement the new facility.