Legal Correspondent,
The Tribune,
New Delhi, September 12
The case
- Three Agartala residents alleged they were neither allowed to carry water, nor was it provided inside the cinema free of cost in November 2014
- The Tripura state commission ordered the cinema owner to pay Rs 11,000 as compensation
- The cinema owner then moved national consumer panel, which ruled in favour of the cine-goers
The verdict
The National Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has ruled that cinema owners should either provide
drinking water free of cost to patrons or let them carry their own water
bottles.
Movie goers should not be forced to
buy bottled water at exorbitant prices inside cinemas as everyone cannot
afford it, an NCDRC Bench headed by Justice VK Jain held.
“Water being a basic necessity for
human beings, it is obligatory for the cinema hall owners to make it available
to the movie-goers in case they decide not to allow the drinking water to be
carried inside the cinema hall,” the Bench, which included Dr BC Gupta,
clarified.
The NCDRC gave the ruling on a
petition by a multiplex in Agartala, challenging an order by the Tripura state
commission for payment of Rs 11,000 as compensation. Three Agartala residents
had sought compensation for deficiency in services and unfair trade practices
by the theatre owner. They said they were neither allowed to carry water, nor
was it provided inside the cinema hall free of cost in November 2014.
Forcing cinema-goers to purchase
water bottles inside the theatre did “constitute unfair trade practice within
the meaning of Section 2(r) of the Consumer Protection Act 1986,” NCDRC held
while upholding the award of compensation.
“Pure drinking water is a basic
facility that a cinema hall is required to make available to its patrons who visit
there in the hope of relaxing in a cool and comfortable environment...
“If this
is not done, the owner of the cinema hall would be liable to pay appropriate
compensation for the deficiency in rendering services to the cinema-goers. Mere
availability of drinking water from the cafeteria, in our view, would not be
sufficient to enforce prohibition of carrying drinking water inside the cinema
halls,” the national commission explained.
