Hyderabad: The famous Sandhya Theatre at RTC crossroads was found guilty of charging an illegal amount for vehicle parking at its premises. The consumer court has ordered the theatre to pay Rs 15,000 as fine.
The Hyderabad District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum pulled up the theatre for illegally imposing parking fee on a customer. The theatre has been given 30 days time to pay. This is the third such judgement against a commercial establishment by a consumer court in the State. The first one was against the Maheshwari Parmeshwari Mall at Kacheguda crossroads in August. The second was against GVK mall in October.
The consumer forum found that Sandhya theatre was charging a high rate for vehicle parking, which is against the Government Order (GO) 168 in 2012.
The GO states that no commercial or residential complex has the right to charge parking fee. A provision of the AP/TS Apartments Promotion of Construction and Ownership Act, 1987 which states that selling leasing and misusing of the common areas and facilities is prohibited.
Speaking to this newspaper, Mr Vijay Gopal, who is also the president of Forum Against Corruption who filed the complaint and won the case, said, “In December 2017, I went to watch a movie in Sandhya theatre and parked my vehicle on the premises. Despite the GO stating that the management has no right to charge parking fee, they charged me Rs 20.”
However, the theatre management defended its stand stating that if there are any irregularities in implementing the rules framed by the police commissioner, the licencing authority will take necessary action against them.
“The person who filed the case has not provided receipts of items purchased or the movie watched. The theatre also stated that the complaint didn’t specify which management as the 35mm and 75mm screens have different owners.
