India's top multiplex chain PVR Inox is set to challenge the order passed by the Bengaluru District Consumer Commission which had ruled that showing long advertisements before the start of the movie is an unfair trade practice.
"PVR INOX acknowledges the Order passed by the Hon’ble District Consumer Redressal Commission, Bengaluru. We are currently reviewing the Order in detail and firmly believe that we have a strong case. Accordingly, we intend to challenge the decision before the appropriate legal forum," the company said in a statement shared with Moneycontrol.
The consumer court has levied a penalty of Rs 20,000 on PVR Inox, payable to the complainant for mental distress and wasting time, along with Rs 8,000 as legal expenses, after he complained about a 25-minute delay in the screening of the film, during which advertisements were played. Additionally, a penalty of Rs 1 lakh has also been imposed on the company.
In a complaint, Abhishek MR said that the movie Sam Bahadur - which was supposed to start at 4:05 pm at a PVR Inox cinema in 2023 - began after a 25-minute delay. During that period, the cinema played advertisements. The complainant argued that time is money, and that due to the misrepresentation of movie show timings by the cinema, he was unable to attend other scheduled appointments, leading to irreplaceable losses.
Refuting the allegation, PVR Inox said that they have not engaged in any unfair trade practices and have always adhered to legal and regulatory requirements.
Many consumers have complained in the past about long advertisements at PVR Inox, with some jokingly saying they do not miss a movie's beginning despite being 15-20 minutes late.
The multiplex chain in April last year had launched ad-free movies, claiming that the program will cut down the length of ads slotted before a movie from 35 minutes to 10 minutes, in order to add extra shows. The campaign also promised no commercials even during intervals, and only trailers of upcoming movies, the company had said.
While consumers are tired of long ads in PVR Inox cinemas, the company has highlighted the slow recovery in cinema advertising revenue.
The cinema advertising revenue has not gone back to pre-Covid levels, analysts tracking the exhibition business have said, and while the inventories have been filling up, the pricing is still muted.
It costs between Rs 8,000-15,000 per screen per week for a 20-second slot to advertise in cinemas. The ad rates are now in the lower end of the range due to a weak content flow.
While at some properties, ad rates are back to pre-Covid levels, on a per-screen basis it is still not back to the pre-pandemic period and there remains a 20-25 percent gap.
PVR Inox in the December quarter had posted the highest quarterly ad income of Rs 148.6 crore, up by 5.8 percent sequentially.
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