PPL License for Restaurants and Bars (2026): Cost, IPRS and Novex Explained

A PPL license is what lets a restaurant, café or bar play recorded music to customers, and in a big city it costs a standalone restaurant ₹10,000 to ₹20,000 a year and a bar from ₹75,000 a year. That's from PPL's own published tariff. Most venues also need a second licence from IPRS for the songs themselves. And since 11 June 2026, PPL is a registered copyright society again, which removes the main argument venues used to avoid paying it.

Key takeaways

• PPL licenses the sound recording. IPRS licenses the composition and lyrics. Playing a recorded song uses both, so most venues need both licences.
• A restaurant that serves alcohol is billed on PPL's bar tariff (by floor area), not its restaurant tariff (by seats). That's the difference between ₹17,500 and ₹1,50,000 a year in Bengaluru.
• PPL's bar tariff adds ₹2 lakh if guests dance, ₹2 lakh if you charge a cover or entry fee, and ₹1 lakh for karaoke nights.
• Both PPL tariffs say the fee is the tariff figure or 5% of last year's revenue, whichever is higher. Read that line before you sign.
• Your yearly background licence doesn't cover New Year's Eve, Christmas or Holi. Each needs a separate event licence.

PPL, IPRS, Novex: who licenses what

A recorded film song carries more than one copyright. The recording belongs to the label. The tune and the words belong to the composer, lyricist and publisher. Different bodies collect for each, which is why one restaurant can get two or three demands and more than one of them can be valid.

PPL's registration is stated on PPL's own About page, which says it is registered under Section 33(3) of the Copyright Act "vide its Certificate dated 11th June 2026". IPRS states its own renewal (21 January 2025, effective from 28 November 2022, valid five years) on its licensing page. Music Business Worldwide reported in June 2026 that RMPL's registration "ran for a five-year term that has now reached its end".

Here's the practical rule. A PPL licence does not cover IPRS, and an IPRS licence does not cover PPL. IPRS says so directly in its FAQ: when a song is played, the sound recording and the underlying musical and literary works both get used, "and separate licenses need to be taken for each category."

How much a PPL license costs a restaurant

PPL's restaurant tariff (Category 15, in force from 14 November 2025) charges by seats, per outlet, per year. Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Goa, Chandigarh and Jaipur are A Class cities.

A "chain" is anything with more than three outlets or a shared brand and central management, and chains pay the A Class rate everywhere. A takeaway counter or cloud kitchen with no seating pays a flat ₹7,500 a year per outlet.

Two conditions catch people out. If different areas of the restaurant play different music, PPL wants a separate licence for each area. And this tariff only applies to places that don't serve alcohol.

How much a PPL license costs a bar

The moment you serve alcohol, you're on PPL's Category 48, in force from 1 April 2025. It covers pubs, lounges, sports bars, restro-bars, clubs and "restaurants serving alcohol", and it charges by floor area, not seats.

Then come the add-ons, each stated in the tariff:

1. Dancing: ₹2,00,000 extra if guests request songs and dance, with or without a dance floor.
2. Cover charge or entry fee: ₹2,00,000 extra, even if you only charge it on some days of the week.
3. Karaoke nights: ₹1,00,000 extra.
4. Terrace or smoking area with music: an extra 50% of the tariff rate.

The cover charge one deserves a hard look. A bar that runs a ₹1,000 redeemable cover on Friday and Saturday nights, mostly to filter the crowd, is paying ₹2 lakh a year in music fees for that decision. Before you print the cover-charge board, check whether the door policy is worth ₹2 lakh to you.

The IPRS license, the second bill

IPRS's tariffs took effect on 1 April 2025 and are published as separate PDFs on its site. Its restaurant tariff (RB) is a flat yearly fee: ₹20,000 in its "classified cities", which include Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Kochi and Lucknow, and ₹10,000 everywhere else. It covers background music and live or DJ performance.

Its bar tariff (BPDL, for bars, pubs, discos and lounges) is by floor area:

IPRS fees are "exclusive of all applicable GST", may be raised in line with the Consumer Price Index, and come with a 20% deduction if you host live performance all year. A live band playing covers is using the songs, not the label's recordings, so IPRS is the licence that matters most for a live-music bar.

The 5% clause most guides skip

Both PPL tariffs contain the same sentence. The fee is the tariff amount plus add-ons "or 5% of the total revenue earned by the Licensee in the previous financial year, (as evidenced by audited financial documents) whichever is maximum."

Run that on a real outlet. Take a 1,200 sq ft restro-bar in Bengaluru with a weekend cover charge and a crowd that dances on Saturdays.

That's about ₹54,000 a month, before a single bottle is bought. Now apply the 5% line. If the bar did ₹3 crore in revenue last year, 5% is ₹15 lakh, which is higher than ₹5.5 lakh, so as written that's the PPL fee.

We haven't seen how strictly PPL applies this clause to small outlets, so take it as the worst case, not the norm. What I'd do: before paying, ask PPL in writing which figure your invoice is based on and how it was calculated. Since PPL is now a registered society, its tariff counts as a tariff scheme under Section 33A of the Copyright Act, and Section 33A(2) lets "any person who is aggrieved by the tariff scheme" appeal to the Commercial Court. That's a lawyer's job, but you should know the route exists.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

For years, many venues refused PPL's demands on one argument: PPL had stopped being a registered copyright society in 2014, and Section 33(1) of the Copyright Act says only registered societies may carry on the business of issuing licences. The courts split on it.

• Delhi High Court, 15 April 2025. A Division Bench in Azure Hospitality v. PPL found, at the interim stage, that PPL could not run a licensing business without being registered or joining a registered society. It didn't let Azure play music free. It told Azure to pay PPL at the tariff of RMPL, the registered society, until the suit is decided.
• Bombay High Court. In Novex v. Trade Wings Hotels (January 2024) and later in PPL v. Trinetra Venture, a case against a restaurant group with about 94 outlets, the court held that an owner or exclusive licensee of recordings can license and sue without registration. It granted PPL an injunction.
• 11 June 2026. PPL was registered as a copyright society again.

From 11 June 2026, the "PPL isn't registered" defence is gone for current use. Music used before that date is a different question: according to S.S. Rana & Co.'s August 2026 analysis, the lead appeal on that point is before the Supreme Court. If PPL is chasing you for past years, get legal advice before paying.

Novex is still not a registered society. The Bombay High Court has backed its right to license, the Madras High Court has taken the opposite view, and the point isn't settled. A Novex notice still deserves a lawyer's reply, because Novex does file suits.

New Year's Eve needs its own licence

Your yearly background licence stops at the door of an event. Both PPL and IPRS exclude New Year, Christmas and Holi (IPRS adds Valentine's Day) and require a separate event licence for them. PPL's New Year, Christmas and Holi tariff (Category 33 N) charges per event per day by average attendance:

Two catches. These rates apply only to "compliant and regular customers"; a venue with no licence during the year pays PPL's higher miscellaneous event tariff instead. And the event fee is the table figure or 5% of the event's ticket, package and sponsorship revenue, whichever is higher. If you're selling New Year packages, price this in now, not on 30 December.

What happens if you play music without a licence

Three things, in rising order of pain.

• Back fees with a penalty. PPL's tariff says unlicensed users lose the published rates and face damages "at a suitable multiple" of the tariff, plus interest at 18% a year on unpaid invoices. IPRS charges at least 50% over its tariff to regularise past use.
• An injunction. Courts have ordered restaurant groups to stop playing music from a repertoire until licensed, which is a hard thing to explain to a Friday crowd.
• Criminal liability. Section 63 of the Copyright Act, on the Copyright Office's site, sets imprisonment of six months to three years and a fine of ₹50,000 to ₹2 lakh for knowing infringement.

A personal Spotify or YouTube subscription doesn't fix any of this. As S.S. Rana & Co. puts it, domestic streaming subscriptions "generally do not include public-performance rights for commercial venues."

FAQ

Is a PPL license mandatory for restaurants?

Yes, if you play recorded music from PPL's repertoire where customers can hear it. That covers radio, TV playing songs, a speaker connected to a phone or a streaming app. PPL's 500+ member labels include T-Series, Sony, Universal and Warner, so most Bollywood and popular music falls under it.

What is the PPL license cost for a restaurant in Bangalore?

Bangalore is an A Class city. A standalone restaurant pays ₹10,000 a year below 20 seats, ₹17,500 for 21 to 40 seats and ₹20,000 for 41 to 60, plus ₹300 per extra seat. If you serve alcohol, the bar tariff applies instead: from ₹75,000 for up to 500 sq ft.

Do I need both PPL and IPRS licences?

Usually yes. PPL licenses the recording; IPRS licenses the composition and lyrics. Playing a recorded film song uses both, and IPRS says separate licences are needed for each. A venue with only live musicians playing covers mainly needs IPRS, since no label recording is played.

Is Novex license legal?

Novex isn't a registered copyright society, and courts disagree on whether it can license anyway. The Bombay High Court has said it can; the Madras High Court has said it can't. Until the Supreme Court settles it, treat a Novex notice seriously and get a lawyer's view before paying or refusing.

Does a cloud kitchen need a PPL license?

Only if music plays on the premises. PPL's restaurant tariff charges a flat ₹7,500 a year per outlet for takeaway counters and cloud kitchens with no seating, and its licence covers music played for staff as well as customers.

What to do next

Measure your floor area and count your seats, then check whether you serve alcohol, because that one fact picks your PPL tariff. Add the IPRS fee, then any cover-charge, dancing or terrace add-on, and put the New Year event licence in your December budget. A PPL license and an IPRS licence for a busy bar can pass ₹6 lakh a year, so it's worth knowing how many extra rounds a faster ordering system can add to cover it. If you're still planning a bar, put these fees in your restaurant business plan next to the licences every food business needs.