BENGALURU, India (Diya TV) — An Indian consumer court has ordered PVR INOX to compensate a moviegoer for showing him 25 minutes of advertisements before a screening of “Sam Bahadur,” holding this practice an unfair trade practice. The court ordered the multiplex chain to pay ₹1 lakh ($1,150 USD) as punitive damages to the consumer welfare fund, ₹20,000 ($230 USD) to the complainant for mental agony and inconvenience, and ₹8,000 ($92 USD) for legal costs.
Complainant Abhishek M.R. watched a 4:05 p.m. show of “Sam Bahadur” in December 2023 and expected the film to end at 6:30 p.m. However, the movie started at 4:30 p.m. due to the lengthy advertisements and was delayed by about 30 minutes from ending. Abhishek then registered a case against PVR Cinemas, INOX, and BookMyShow for claiming that the long ad duration interrupted his routine and led to unnecessary inconvenience.
In their defense, PVR Cinemas and INOX contended that showing public service announcements (PSAs) is a statutory obligation imposed by central and state governments to create awareness of important social issues. Nevertheless, the court highlighted the importance of time in the fast-paced world of today, asserting that it’s unfair for companies to waste consumers’ time or money. The court added that people with tight schedules are unable to withstand 25-30 minutes of unwanted commercials in cinemas.
This order brings to the limelight the increasing unrest among cinema-goers over the long advert durations before film screenings. Following such complaints, PVR INOX had already launched ad-free movie-watching experiences in some of its luxury theatres within key cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru in April 2024.
