No more endless trailers: This man was awarded damages over length of commercials in the movie theaters

A man in India has won a legal case against a chain of movie theaters for playing the typical series of lengthy commercials beforehand, causing the film to end later than advertised.

Abhishek M R, a 31-year-old lawyer from the southern city of Bangalore, went up against the PVR INOX cinema chain after had to cancel work calls due to a movie he watched running past the scheduled finish time.

He argued that his calls were forced to be cancelled due to the long series of commercials at the start of the film, with him suffering “mental agony” as a result of the 25 minutes advertisement period that came before the film “Sam Bahadur.”

Man awarded over $500 for damages

CNN reported that Abhishek bought three tickets to see the film in 2023, with the PVR multiplex in Bangalore advertising a start time of 4.05 p.m. and an end time of 6.30 p.m. Quite logically, Abhishek decided to schedule his work call for then. However, after what he called “trailers, advertisements and other fillers which wasted nearly 30 mins of the time of the complainant along with the other viewers,” the call went unanswered as he finished the film, with him suffering “losses which cannot be calculated in terms of money.”

Abhishek moved to sue PVR INOX for 50,000 rupees ($574) in damages, deciding also to apply for another 5,000 rupees ($57) for the “mental agony” and a further 10,000 rupees ($115) to cover his legal costs.

The court sided with the defendant and ordered the movie theater chain to pay him 20,000 rupees ($230) in damages and a further 8,000 ($92) in costs. CNN report that “the company was also ordered to pay another 100,000 rupees ($1,148) to the Consumer Welfare Fund, a government body that aims to protect consumers.”

The consumer disputes commission said that “in the new era, time is considered as money, each one’s time is very precious” and that the time spent on showing commercials was “a considerable amount of time to sit idle in the theatre and watch unnecessary ads. People with tight schedules do not have time to waste.”

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