PVR-Inox fined ₹1.2 lakh for wasting viewer’s time with long ads before film: ‘Stop unfair trade practices

A consumer court in Bengaluru has penalized PVR and Inox for extending advertisements and trailers beyond the film’s scheduled start time, thereby wasting a viewer’s time. The district consumer court criticized the theatre chain for excessively long ads before the movie. A complaint was filed by a viewer against PVR, alleging that the cinema continued to display ads and trailers for 30 minutes past the scheduled screening time.

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PVR Inox fined by consumer court

Bar and Bench reported that the complainant, Abhishek MR, went to watch Vicky Kaushal-starrer Sam Bahadur on December 26, 2023 for a 4:05 pm show. However, the theatre played trailers and ads till 4:28 pm and the film did not begin till 4:30 pm. The complainant said that this delay disrupted his schedule for the rest of the day.

President M Shobha, along with members K Anita Shivakumar and Suma Anil Kumar, passed the order against PVR-Inox, stating, “In the new era, people consider time as money; each person’s time is very precious, and no one has the right to benefit from others’ time and money.”25-30 (minutes) is not less to sit idle in the theatre and watch whatever the theatre telecasts. It is very hard for busy people with tight schedule watching unnecessary advertisements. However, they make their own arrangements to get some relaxation with family. (This does) not mean that people have no other work to do.”

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The consumer forum also directed PVR and Inox to mention the actual movie time on cinema tickets and to stop engaging in unfair trade practices. It further instructed them not to exhibit advertisements beyond the scheduled show times mentioned on the ticket.

The court ordered PVR Cinemas and Inox to pay ₹20,000 to the complainant for causing him mental agony and inconvenience, and ₹8,000 towards the expenses he bore to file the complaint. The forum has also ordered the cinema chain to pay ₹1 lakh as punitive damages for engaging in unfair trade practices. The amount is to paid within 30 days to consumer welfare fund.