Popcorn and drinks to get cheaper in Chandigarh cinemas, ill can carry own food
Popcorn and drinks to get cheaper in Chandigarh cinemas, ill can carry own food Soon you will not have to eat before your movie begins or finish your meal outside the multiplex so they can let you in the cinema hall! You will also be allowed to carry your own food in Chandigarh movie theatres. The Chandigarh administration has given 30 days to the city’s multiplexes to comply with its directions to rationalise food and drink rates. Senior citizens, children and those with chronic illness will also be allowed to carry their own food and drinks into movie theatres under the directions. The move comes after the Bombay High Court (HC) held on April 4 that moviegoers could not be unilaterally prohibited from bringing their own food and water bottles inside theatres and multiplexes when vendors were serving food inside at exorbitant prices. Deputy commissioner (DC) Ajit Balaji Joshi chaired a meeting of the District Consumer Protection Council with representatives of the city’s multiplexes and sought their compliance within 30 days. There are seven malls in the city with a footfall of around 8,000 a day and around 12,000 a day on weekends. Some of the multiplexes in the city are located in Elante Mall and Centra Mall, both in the Chandigarh Industrial Area; Fun Republic Mall in Manimajra, TDI Mall in Sector 17, Chandigarh and DLF City Centre Mall in IT Park, and Piccadily Square Mall in Sector 34. All of the multiplex chains charge high rates for food and water. RK Kaplash, member, District Consumer Protection Council Chandigarh, who attended the meeting, wondered how the multiplexes “could sell food items above MRP. They cannot compel cinegoers to buy things from them. We have given them one month’s time, following which action will be initiated,” he said. A senior employee of PVR Cinemas at Elante Mall said, “we do not earn anything from movie tickets as the annual rent of the mall is around Rs 1crore and we have to pay salaries to employees and pay other bills also. Whatever we earn is from the food items.” Chandramohan Sharma, area manager, PVR Cinemas, refused to comment on the issue. -PTC News
