Are The Multiplexes Over Charging Their Customers

Watching a movie at the multiplex is a delightful experience for the movie buffs, at least when it comes to watching the film. You get the soft cushioned seats which makes your 2 to hours sitting at the cinema hall comfortable and cozy. Some of them even have a reclining facility which makes you more comfortable, and you can watch your movie like you are sitting in your own living room couch, or even more comfortable than that. The air-conditioning of the auditorium is also cool, thus you don’t feel ant sweat or humidity and comfortably watch the movie.

Mostly, the multiplexes are equipped with Dolby digital surround sound which makes your movie watching experience even more delightful. Therefore, it is ensured that the 2-3 hours time that you spend there is pleasant and you can enjoy your movie to its core. But all these delights come at a price and sometimes a bit extravagantly. Most of the multiplexes charge you with ticket value which more than any other single-screen theater in which you watch the films. It is no doubt that the facilities in the multiplexes are far superior to the normal cinema halls. But the amount of price you have to shell out for buying one ticket sometimes comes at the price of two tickets at standard theaters.

The next fuss that you have to face at the multiplexes is the prevention of taking outside food and water. Most of the multiplexes have their own snack bars and food outlets. It means that if the food is taken by the viewers inside the multiplex, it will affect the sales of the food counters over there. This is one loss which the multiplex owners are not ready to bear. The second thing is that most of the food and snack items sold at the counters are prohibitively costly and sometimes it is at the same price range in which you have bought the tickets or even more.

For instance, if you have booked a ticket at the price of Rs. 250, a large bucket of flavored popcorn along with a glass of soft drinks will cost you around Rs. 450. You can easily estimate the cost of the total bill when you are going to see a movie over there.

The most bizarre thing is that the multiplex is often accused and found selling food products above the MRP rates. This often becomes a subject of a clash between the multiplex staff and the moviegoers. In some multiplexes, it is found that even water is not allowed to go inside along with the customer due to company policy or security reasons. This compels the moviegoers to buy bottled water at a much higher price. The issue is so grave and intense that it has even reached the doors of the honorable court. The unfair practice of the cinema halls to make money received a sharp blow from the honorable Bombay high court on heart a PIL, and it directed every cinema hall in the country to allow the moviegoers carry their own food and water inside the cinema halls. This thing also went up to the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) for justice which laid a fine on a multiplex theater a fine of Rs. 11,000 for excessively charging for a bottle of water from a customer whose MRP price is of Rs. 20. However, even after incidents like these, the malpractice is going on in several multiplexes, and it should be checked by the concerning authorities to top this kind of unfair trade and allow the moviegoers to enjoy the movie in a free and happy mind.


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