A coram of President Vakkanti Narasimha Rao and Member Suma Vala held that deliberately misrepresenting movie start times to commercially exploit viewers through non-essential ads amounts to deficiency in service and an unfair trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
The complainant, advocate Chanda Athish Kumar, had purchased two tickets for a 10:35 PM screening of the Telugu film Kubera on June 20, 2025, at Next Galleria Mall, Moosarambagh.
However, the theater continued running advertisements and promotional trailers until 10:52 PM, followed by mandatory public service awareness (PSA) films, causing an unwarranted delay of nearly 22 minutes.
Kumar submitted that this delay extended his return journey past 3:00 AM, caused severe inconvenience, and exposed him to late-night travel hazards.
He further pointed out an Office Memorandum of the Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting restricting mandatory screening of approved/ PSA films to a maximum of two minutes, which the theater flouted to earn undue commercial revenue.