A 30-year-old man in Bengaluru received Rs 65,000 in compensation after suing PVR Cinemas, INOX, and BookMyShow for “wasting” 25 minutes of his time by playing long advertisements before a movie screening, causing him “mental distress”. Abhishek MR claimed he bought three tickets for a 4:05 pm show of “Sam Bahadur” but the movie actually started at 4:30 pm after advertisements and trailers, “wasting nearly 30 minutes” of his time. The incident took place in 2023. He said this prevented him from attending other scheduled appointments and resulted in financial losses. The consumer court ruled that the companies’ actions were an unfair trade practice and that time is considered as valuable as money, ordering PVR Cinemas and INOX to compensate the complainant.

INOX was ordered to pay Rs 50,000 for unfair business practices and wasting the complainant’s time, Rs 5,000 for mental distress, and Rs 10,000 for filing the complaint and other relief. The court also imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on PVR Cinemas and INOX. However, the court said BookMyShow was not responsible for any claims as it is a ticket-booking platform and has no control over the timing of advertisements. The court emphasized that no one has the right to profit from others’ time and money, and that 25-30 minutes of waiting for unnecessary ads is too much, especially for people with busy schedules.

PVR Cinemas and INOX claimed they were required by law to show certain Public Service Announcements (PSA) to educate the public. However, the court stated that the PSAs should only be displayed within 10 minutes before the film starts and during the intermission before the second half. The court also ordered PVR Cinemas and INOX to contribute Rs one lakh to the consumer welfare fund within 30 days.