FIR registered against Cinepolis in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: An FIR has been registered against a Cinepolis in KPHB police station on Monday for playing ads beyond the movie show timings in Hyderabad.

According to the complainant, the Cinepolis movie theatre staff was running ads for up to 10 minutes after the movie's show time. The FIR has been registered under u/s 10(2)(B),9A- TS Cinemas Regulation Act.

Not starting movies at the mentioned time comes under unfair trade practice and is a clear violation as per the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Cinema Regulation Act.

Sai Teja, Member of the Forum Against Corruption(FAC), who lodged this complaint said, "Committing to a time to the patrons that the movie will start at 4.30 pm and making them watch advertisements they play to generate higher revenue when the show is supposed to start is highly unethical of the multiplex management and disrespecting the time of the patrons. This is pure deficiency of service and affects the plans made by the patrons. We do not pay for movie tickets so that the theatre/multiplex management can make us watch ads when the movie is supposed to be played."

"Cinepolis theatre in Manjeera Mall plays the movie 10 minutes later than the showtime mentioned on the ticket, which is a violation of the Cinemas Regulation Act 1955 of the Telangana State Norms. The theatres should stop disrespecting the patrons' time. This will not be tolerated anymore. This will be a benchmark for all the other theatres who are not following the proper guidelines", He further added.

Mr Vijay Gopal, Founder of Forum Against Corruption, said, "Over the period of 15 years police have been ignoring its responsibility as a licensing authority and letting theatres, multiplexes do whatever they want. Instead of an FIR, levying the Rs 10,000 penalty on violators is what we expect; as the Commissioner of Police or SP's have the authority to do so or they can delegate the powers to the SHO's and ACP's. If the ticket mentions 4.30 pm as the show time, the movie has to start by 4.30 no matter what, but they are playing ads to generate more money, etc."

He further added that "Theatres/multiplexes are not even arranging drinking water for the patrons, which is a legal requirement, people don't even know where to complain and to whom. The police need to become more responsible and act swiftly and issue directions to all theatres to not play ads during showtimes and penalize them for doing so swiftly. This is the second case in Hyderabad in the last four months. Why do people have to file cases? Why can't they do a random inspection and be proactive, it will help all and ensure traders are more accountable with their act".

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