Sentinel Digital Desk
A district consumer court has found PVR INOX guilty of delaying film screenings by airing too many advertisements. The court called this an "unfair" trade practice and ordered the multiplex chain to pay Rs 1 lakh in punitive damages.
The case was filed by a Bengaluru resident who attended a 4:05 PM show of Sam Bahadur in December 2023. However, the movie started only at 4:30 PM due to a long series of ads, disrupting their schedule.
The complainant was awarded Rs 20,000 for inconvenience and mental distress, along with Rs 8,000 for litigation costs. The court emphasized that consumers' time should not be wasted unfairly.
The court stated that spending 25-30 minutes watching ads is a waste of time, especially for people with busy schedules. Entertainment should not come at the cost of unnecessary delays.
PVR INOX argued that government rules require public service announcements (PSAs) before films. However, the court pointed out that such screenings are limited to 10 minutes, making the excessive ads unjustifiable.
The complainant recorded the ads as evidence, which PVR INOX claimed was a piracy violation. The court rejected this, clarifying that only the ads were recorded, not the movie itself.