An Indian lawyer, Abhishek M R, won a case against PVR INOX after filing a complaint about excessive advertisements before a movie screening. The Bangalore District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission ruled in his favor, ordering the cinema chain to pay damages.

Abhishek, 31, booked tickets for Sam Bahadur on December 26, 2023, expecting the film to start at 4:05 p.m. and end at 6:30 p.m. However, due to 25 minutes of ads and trailers, the film ended around 7 p.m., causing him to miss an important work call. He sued PVR INOX for unfair trade practices, demanding compensation for wasted time and mental distress.

The commission acknowledged that time is valuable and penalized PVR INOX, ordering them to pay ₹20,000 ($230) in damages, ₹8,000 ($92) in legal costs, and ₹100,000 ($1,148) to the Consumer Welfare Fund.

The theater chain defended itself by citing a legal obligation to show public service announcements, but most of the pre-movie content was found to be commercial advertisements. Abhishek hopes his case will push Indian businesses to respect customers’ time.