Aged just 30, this gentleman hails from Bengaluru and pocketed a sum of Rs 65,000 in compensatory damages after filing a suit against PVR Cinemas, INOX, and BookMyShow for having “wasted” 25 minutes of his time with lengthy commercials that would precede the screening of a film and caused “mental agony.”
In his complaint, he said that in 2023 he booked three tickets for ‘Sam Bahadur’ for a show of 4:05 PM. He also claimed that the film would finish by 6:30 PM and return to his workplace. Baffled, he added that after that, it started only at 4:30 because of advertisements and trailers of other films were projected, and that “almost 30 minutes of time was wasted.”
“Losses which can neither be measured in monetary terms nor by any other means as compensation have been incurred by the complainant due to loss of appointments and other plans scheduled for the day,” it read.
That his “precious time” was wasted has been teetering “rather well” within the term of unfair trade practice as they wrongly communicated timings of the shows to take undue advantage of advertising.”
The consumer court rules that “time is considered money” and directs PVR Cinemas and INOX to make good the costs incurred by the complainant. PVR and INOX were required to pay Rs. 50,000 for unfair trade practice and wasting time of the complainant; Rs 5,000 for mental agony; and Rs 10,000 for “filing the complaint and other reliefs.” The penalty will also include an imposition of Rs one lakh upon PVR Cinemas and INOX.
The court distinguishes BookMyShow as not being subject to any claims since it is merely a ticket-booking platform and has no control over the time for which advertisements stream.
What the Consumer Court Said
The court in its order dated February 15, stated, “no one has the right to gain benefit out of others’ time and money”. “25-30 is not less to sit idle in the theatre and watch whatever the theatre telecasts,” it stressed.
“It is very hard for busy people with tight schedules to watch unnecessary advertisements,” it added.
What PVR-INOX Said
PVR Cinemas and INOX stated that they are mandated by law regarding many Public Service Announcements that have to be screened in order to impart awareness.
But the court also maintained that the PSAs should be screened within 10 minutes to the beginning of the film and during the interval period before the start of the second half of the movie package.
The court ordered that PVR cinemas as well as INOX deposit Rs one lakh to the consumer welfare fund. They are asked to pay amounts within 30 days from the date of order.
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