The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission issued the order after Abhishek MR, the complainant, filed a case against PVR Cinemas, Inox, and BookMyShow (Big Tree Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.).
He claimed that during a December 2023 screening of Sam Bahadur, he was subjected to nearly 25 minutes of advertisements before the movie began, disrupting his schedule and making it difficult for him to return to work as planned.
The commission, led by its President M Shobha and members K Anita Shivakumar and Suma Anil Kumar, ruled that while BookMyShow was not responsible for the issue, PVR and Inox were engaging in unfair trade practices by forcing viewers to sit through prolonged commercial ads.
Court slams unfair trade practice
“In the new era, time is considered as money, each one’s time is very precious, no one has the right to gain benefit out of others’ time and money,” the commission stated. “It is very hard for busy people with tight schedules to watch unnecessary advertisements.”
The commission found that PVR and Inox must stop playing advertisements beyond the scheduled showtime and issued the following directives:
- Cinema tickets must indicate the actual start time of the movie.
- Advertisements must not extend beyond the scheduled movie start time.
Additionally, the court ordered PVR and Inox to compensate Abhishek with ₹20,000 for mental agony and inconvenience, along with ₹8,000 towards litigation costs. The companies were also directed to pay ₹1 lakh as punitive damages to the consumer welfare fund within 30 days.
The case against long ads
Abhishek had booked three tickets for a 4.05 pm screening of Sam Bahadur at PVR Cinemas on December 26, 2023. Arriving at the theatre around 4 pm, he expected the movie to begin at the scheduled time. However, between 4.05-4.28 pm, the cinema played advertisements and trailers, with the actual film starting only at 4.30 pm. This delay, he argued, threw off his evening plans, as he had anticipated returning to work by 6.30 pm.
In response, PVR and Inox defended their practice, citing legal obligations to screen public service announcements (PSAs) on social issues as mandated by the government. However, the consumer forum noted that these announcements should not exceed 10 minutes and could be played before the official movie start time mentioned on the ticket.
The commission found that in Abhishek’s case, 95% of the ads shown were commercial advertisements, not government-mandated PSAs. It dismissed the theatres’ argument that long ads benefited latecomers delayed by security checks, ruling that punctual cinemagoers should not be forced to endure unnecessary advertisements.
Complaint over filming ads dismissed
PVR Cinemas also accused Abhishek of violating anti-piracy laws by recording the advertisements played before the movie. The commission rejected this argument, clarifying that he had only filmed the ads — not the film itself — and had done so to highlight an issue affecting many cinemagoers.
“The viewers who are seated early in the theatre watch advertisements silently till the scheduled time. Taking beyond the scheduled time for the purpose of telecasting advertisements, especially commercial ones, is unjust and unfair,” the commission stated.
Legal representation
Advocate Anudeep L Jain represented Abhishek MR in the case. Advocate Anisha Aatresh appeared for PVR and Inox, while Advocate Mohumed Sadhiq BA represented BookMyShow.
(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)
