Consumer takes PVR Cinemas to court after ads played 17 minutes before movie: Movie chain now has to pay ₹75,000 | Today’s news
A consumer in Hyderabad booked tickets for a night movie at PVR Cinemas. The film was delayed due to advertisements. The consumer turned out to be an advocate and the incident led to a consumer case against them.
The Hyderabad District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has now ruled in favor of the cinema goer. PVR Cinemas has to pay him ₹75,000 in total, The Economic Times reported.
The defense attorney booked two tickets for the 10:35 p.m. show. He arrived well before the scheduled start time. But instead, the ads and trailers continued to run. The movie started 17 minutes after the scheduled time.
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This delay pushed his entire night schedule back. He finally arrived home around 3:00 AM, even though the original plan was to arrive home by 2:00 AM. Plus, that hour disrupted the rest of his plans for the night.
He argued that these were not minor inconveniences. Traveling later meant less security at night. He said PVR had misused the time for commercial advertisements. This violated the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s special vetting rules.
He approached the consumer commission with a request for proper compensation. He wanted to pay for harassment, inconvenience and legal costs.
PVR did not deny the late start of the film. Instead, she defended her business rights. He cited Article 19 paragraph 1 letter g) Constitution. This protects the right of businesses to trade freely.
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The PVR also referred to an earlier decision of the Supreme Court. This judgment states that cinemas are private property. Owners can set their own operating conditions. This is true as long as the public interest is protected.
PVR argued that the pre-film content served a genuine public interest. Topics included literacy, agriculture, women’s welfare and cleanliness drive. It argued that there was no shortage of services.
The commission rejected PVR’s defense. She cited the ministry’s memorandum on the matter. Public domain films must be only two minutes long. They should run within 10 minutes before the movies start.
The Commission also noted the weak reaction of the PVR. The factual details of the delay were not seriously disputed. No reliable evidence was presented against the lawyer’s claim.
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The commission called it an unfair business practice. Cinemas cannot unfairly gain additional commercial value. A captive audience should not be exposed to such long exposure to advertisements.
PVR was ordered to pay ₹20 thousand compensation. Other ₹5,000 to cover the legal costs incurred. Other ₹50,000 was imposed as punitive damages.
This amount will go to the district welfare fund. The PVR must also permanently stop this practice, the commission said.
A similar case in 2025
This is not the first time that PVR has been taken to court for similar reasons. The Bengaluru Consumer Court ruled against PVR Cinemas and Inox in February 2025 for excessive advertising before the film.
Complainant Abhishek MR lost 25 minutes before watching Sam Bahadur in 2023. Long commercials disrupted his plan to return to work, Telangana Today reported.
The court called it an unfair business practice. PVR and Inox were asked to pay ₹20 thousand compensation. This covered the inconvenience and mental anguish caused.
PVR and Inox were also asked to pay a surcharge ₹8,000 to meet his legal expenses. The court fined both chains ₹1 lakh as well. This amount went to the Consumer Welfare Fund.
However, BookMyShow was cleared of any wrongdoing as the platform had no control over movie schedules.
