Excess fare for ticket: Theatre told to pay ₹1.2L to activist

CHENNAI: Kancheepuram district consumer dispute redressal commission has asked a theatre in Kundrathur to pay Rs 1.20 lakh to an activist who lodged a complaint saying that the theatre management has over charged him when he went to watch Nerkonda Parvai at the cinema in the year 2019.

As per a GO, the ticket maximum ticket price should be Rs 75 on the particular theatre, for which activist Kasimayan ended up paying Rs 523 to watch the show.

The complaint was against Parimalam Cinemas in Kundrathur.

The redressal commission president, U Kasipandian and member M Jawahar in their order noted that several complaints have been filed against the theatre alleging excess fare collection and the opposite party never appeared before the commission even after receiving notice from the commission.

"Even in the present case the opposite party did not appear before this commission to defend the case after receiving the notice. Therefore it is proved that the opposite party has been collecting excess charges in violation of GO. Such acts not only amount to deficiency in service but also amount to unfair trade practices,” the order said.

The commission then asked the theatre to refund Rs 425 towards excess amount collected along with Rs 1 lakh towards compensation for mental agony suffered by the complainant besides Rs 20,000 towards the cost of proceedings.