Rospotrebnadzor sued the cinema for banning its own food and drink

The city’s Central District Court has already begun considering the lawsuit. The reason for the investigation was a complaint from neighborhood residents who on March 15 tried to go to the movies with their pizza. The employees offered to leave the food in the warehouse, but the visitors refused and were escorted out by security personnel, the newspaper writes.

Rospotrebnadzor issued a warning to Lumen, in which it criticized the rules established by the cinema. In particular, they prohibit bringing into the room “foods and drinks that have strong or persistent odors, that are greasy, sticky, that crumble or that release liquids when consumed.”

The department considers that restrictions on the introduction of own food and beverages violate consumer rights. The cinema administration will not be able to allow a spectator to see them or remove them from the room only if they violate public order or cause damage to the property of the institution, the regulator explained.

Following the warning, Rospotrebnadzor went to court. In the lawsuit, the department referred to Article 16 of the Law “On Protection of Consumer Rights”, which establishes the inadmissibility of a situation in which the purchase of some goods and services obliges the purchase of others.

Lumen CEO and co-owner Pavel Ponikarovsky believes that Rospotrebnadzor “protects violators” and “does not take into account the changes adopted in 2021.” We are talking about government decree No. 1338, which establishes that cinemas can prohibit the introduction of spicy or strong-smelling substances. At the same time, there are no food products on the list of possible restrictions, noted Ekaterina Zabolotskaya, managing partner of the Rostov regional bar association “Sovetnik”.

Most cinemas do not prevent food from being brought to them, “since it is more important for them to maintain good relations with the audience,” Rifat Fazlyev, chief editor of the analytical portal Cinemaplex, told Kommersant. The real reason for the bans, he says, is that “spilled popcorn and crushed nachos from movie theaters are easy to clean up, but oily spills from fast food will require dry cleaning.”