New Delhi, Feb. 19 -- A Bengaluru man's lawsuit against PVR and INOX has resulted in a landmark victory for moviegoers. The consumer court ruled that the 25 minutes of ads before Vicky Kaushal-starrer Sam Bahadur constituted an unfair trade practice, reinforcing the principle that "time is money."

The consumer court also ordered that cinemas must now display the actual film start time on tickets.

A district consumer forum ordered PVR and INOX to pay Rs.20,000 to a complainant for mental agony and inconvenience, plus Rs.8,000 in legal expenses. According to Bar and Bench, they must also pay Rs.1 lakh in punitive damages to the consumer welfare fund for unfair trade practices related to excessive ad time.

The cinemas argued they were req...