From One Ticket to the Courtroom...A Story That Ended in Court

The Hyderabad District Consumer Commission has imposed a penalty on BookMyShow for failing to inform a customer about the cancellation of a movie show. The commission held the company responsible for causing inconvenience and mental agony to the customer. It ordered the company to pay ₹10,000 as compensation and ₹2,000 towards litigation expenses.

Narayanan Kuttigopala Krishnan from Kukatpally had booked tickets for the movie 'Barroz' at 10:50 AM on January 1, 2025, at Cinepolis in Lulu Mall. When he reached the theatre with his family, he discovered that the show had been cancelled and replaced with another movie. He claimed that neither the theatre nor the ticketing platform informed him in advance.

During the hearing, BookMyShow argued that it was only an intermediary and had already refunded the ticket amount of ₹207.14. However, the commission rejected the argument and stated that the platform had a responsibility to inform customers about show cancellations. It ruled that merely refunding the ticket amount was insufficient and held the company accountable for the mental distress caused to the customer.