Bengaluru Man Has Sued PVR INOX For Wasting His Time With 25 Minute Ads; Wins ₹65,000

After suing PVR Cinemas, INOX, and BookMyShow for ‘wasting’ 25 minutes of his time by playing long adverts before a movie screening and inflicting ‘mental agony’, a 30-old man in Bengaluru was awarded ₹65,000 in compensatory damages.

The Lawsuit Against PVR INOX

Abhishek MR claimed in his complaint that he purchased three tickets for the 4.05 PM showing of the film Sam Bahadur in 2023. According to him, the film was scheduled to conclude at 6:30 PM, at which point he intended to resume his job. However, he was completely taken aback when the film started at 4:30 PM. after streaming movie trailers and ads, which wasted nearly 30 minutes of time.

The lawsuit stated the complainant could not attend other arrangements and appointments which were scheduled for the day. It has also stated that he has faced losses that cannot be calculated in terms of money as compensation. Abhishek claimed that the behaviour was clearly within the meaning of unfair trade practice as they wrongly communicated the show timings to take undue advantage by playing advertisements and that his precious time had been wasted.

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Here’s What The Consumer Court Ruled

The consumer court ordered PVR Cinemas and INOX to make up for the complainant’s losses, stating that time is considered as money. The complainant was ordered to be paid ₹50,000 for unfair trade practices and time waste, ₹5,000 for emotional distress, and ₹10,000 for filing the complaint and other reliefs from PVR and INOX. Additionally, PVR Cinemas and INOX were fined ₹1 lakh by the court.

However, because BookMyShow is a ticketing platform and has no control over the duration of commercials, the court ruled that it was not obligated to pay any claims. PVR Cinemas and INOX argued that they were required by law to show specific Public Service Announcements (PSAs) in order to raise awareness.

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The PSAs should, however, be shown within 10 minutes of the movie’s start time and during the interval before the second half of the package begins, the court said. Additionally, PVR Cinemas and INOX were ordered by the court to contribute ₹1 lakh to the consumer welfare fund. They have 30 days from the order date to make the payment.

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