Cineplex ordered to pay $38.9M by Competition Tribunal in ticket fee case

By The Canadian Press on September 23, 2024.

Cineplex Odeon Theater at Yonge and Eglinton in Toronto on Monday December 16, 2019. Cineplex Inc. has been ordered to pay a record $39 million fine after Canada's competition tribunal found the theatre owner guilty of deceptive marketing practices. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim

TORONTO – Cineplex Inc. has been ordered to pay a record $38.9 million fine after the Competition Tribunal found the theatre owner guilty of deceptive marketing practices.

The tribunal has now sided with the Competition Bureau in a case brought forward last May by the watchdog, in which Cineplex was accused of deceiving theatregoers by not immediately presenting them with the full price of a movie ticket when purchasing seats online.

The bureau said the deception lay in a $1.50 online booking fee Cineplex began charging in June 2022 to many customers not enrolled in its loyalty and subscription programs.

The bureau alleged the fee constituted “price dripping,” a practice when customers are drawn into a purchase without full disclosure of the final cost.

Cineplex denied the accusations, saying moviegoers are promptly told about fees they may face.

The $38.9 million fine Cineplex has now been handed is equivalent to the amount it collected from consumers through the $1.50 online booking fee between June 2022 and December 2023.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2024.

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