The Bengaluru Urban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on PVR Cinemas and INOX for airing advertisements beyond the designated showtime at Orion Mall in the city.
The commission deemed it as 'unjust' and an 'unfair trade practice'.
A complaint was lodged by advocate Abhishek MR in 2023 for causing mental distress. President M Shobha along with members K Anita Shivakumar and Suma Anil Kumar, partially ruled in favour of the complainant.
According to a report by NDTV, Abhishek MR in his complaint had alleged that in the year 2023 he booked three tickets for the movie 'Sam Bahadur' for a 4.05 pm show. He claimed the movie began at 4.30 pm after advertisements and trailers of movies were streamed, which 'wasted nearly 30 minutes of the time.'
And since the movie was supposed to end by 6.30 pm he planned to return to his work after the show. The complaint read and we quote from the NDTV report: "The complainant could not attend other arrangements and appointments which were scheduled for the day, has faced losses that cannot be calculated in terms of money as a compensation."
PVR and INOX have been directed to pay Rs 50,000 for 'unfair trade practice and wasting the time' of the complainant, Rs 5,000 for mental agony and Rs 10,000 for 'filing the complaint and other reliefs'.
The court imposed a penalty of Rs one lakh on PVR Cinemas and INOX and instructed them to pay the amount to the Consumer Welfare Fund as a penalty.
The commission also noticed and acknowledged that many viewers may have experienced similar issues and directed PVR Cinemas and PVR Inox Ltd. to adhere to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s guidelines on the matter.
The commission also pointed out that it's unfair to waste people's time and money with long ads.
PVR Cinemas and PVR Inox Ltd. have denied all the allegations and also argued that they are legally required to screen public service announcements (PSAs). To this, the commission said they found that out of the 17 ads played, only one was a PSA, whereas guidelines permit a maximum of 10 minutes for such content.
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