INOX, PVR Cinemas Fined Rs 1 lakh For Long Advts In Theatres

Time is precious and none can deny it. A consumer court in Bengaluru emphasized the same and ordered INOX and PVR Cinemas to shell out Rs 20,000 as compensation to a viewer, Abhishek MR, for the mental pain and inconvenience caused to him due to late screening of film, after waiting for nearly 25-30 minutes when long advertisements were shown.

In addition, the court also directed them to pay Rs 8,000 towards the cost of filing the complaint. INOX and PVR Cinemas were fined Rs 1 lakh as punitive damages.

The court directed that movie tickets should clearly mention the time when the film would be started, excluding the time when advertisements would be shown.

The court issued the directives following complaint by Abhishek, who claimed that the advertisements disrupted his plans of returning to work immediately. Abhishek filed a case against PVR Cinemas, BookMyShow and INOX, stating that they wasted his time with long commercial advertisements before screening the film Sam Bahadur in 2024.

According to a report by Bar and Bench, the court found that BookMyShow should not be blamed, as it has no say over the timings of film shows.

The court directed PVR and INOX to avoid running long ads that could waste the time of people who are conscious of work and fun schedules.

Also, the court said that time is valuable and 25-30 minutes is a considerable amount of time which people with tight schedules cannot waste. The court ruling clearly indicated that time is valuable and cinemas should respect the time of audience.

PVR and INOX, in defence, argued that the long advertisements were meant to allow viewers pass through the security checks, which could take some time, so that they do not miss out the starting portion of the movie.

However, the court said it was not permissible to keep punctual viewers in waiting.