The Pune Municipal Corporation has shut down its RangYatra app for booking dates at municipal theatres, citing the cost of operating the platform and shifting applications back to email and in-person submissions. The decision will affect theatre groups seeking dates for the January 1 to April 30, 2027 quarterly allotment cycle.
The PMC’s culture department is accepting applications through both offline submissions and email. Dr Vivek Gupta, deputy commissioner of the PMC’s culture department, said applications are currently being received through these two channels.
The RangYatra app was introduced to move the theatre-date allocation process online and provide organisations from across the state, the country and abroad with a way to apply remotely. It was also intended to make the process more transparent by giving eligible theatre and cultural institutions equal access to applications.
According to the report, the PMC was required to spend Rs 10 lakh on developing the application and approximately Rs 2 lakh every month on operating it. The annual operating cost worked out to about Rs 24 lakh, while the estimated expenditure over three years would have reached Rs 72 lakh. The civic administration has concluded that this expense was not justified for a system used to accept applications.
The return to email and in-person applications comes after theatre managers, actors, producers and representatives of cultural organisations had raised objections to the app. Some had protested that the application-based process was not transparent, and the PMC had earlier stopped accepting applications through the platform for a period.
The question of access to municipal theatre dates predates the app. Theatre and cultural groups have previously complained that some institutions receive preferred dates without difficulty, while others remain unsuccessful despite repeated applications. The RangYatra system was presented as a way to address that disparity by shifting the initial application process online.
The PMC has said that, after reviewing the applications, it will give priority to equal opportunity for theatre and cultural institutions. However, the shift back to email and physical submissions has renewed concerns among theatre groups about possible interference, arbitrary decisions and the return of informal advantages in date allotment.
The decision also leaves the PMC facing a practical administrative challenge: the city has abandoned a digital process designed to improve access, but the replacement system will depend on how applications are recorded, assessed and allocated. The source report does not indicate whether the civic body has announced a new public tracking or disclosure mechanism for the quarterly allotment.
For the next cycle, applications will cover municipal theatre dates between January 1 and April 30, 2027. The PMC’s stated approach is to process applications received by email and in person while prioritising equal opportunity among theatre and cultural institutions.
