PVR INOX wants out of a fight it's been having with producers for years. The multiplex chain has proposed to the Competition Commission of India that it will completely drop the Virtual Print Fee, the charge levied on producers to help cover digital projection costs, for every film regardless of language. The commission has opened the proposal for public comment and objections until October 1, 2026.

This isn't a small tweak. It's a commitment application filed under Section 48B of the Competition Act, tied to a case the Film and Television Producers' Guild of India brought against PVR INOX back in 2023. Last September, the CCI had ordered a formal investigation into whether the exhibitor was abusing a dominant market position by continuing to charge VPF. PVR INOX's response, filed now, is: fine, we'll stop.

If the CCI accepts it, producers get two options within 120 days, and neither involves paying anything upfront. One is a weekly per-show Exhibition Service Charge — Rs 450 a show on standard screens, Rs 600 on premium formats like IMAX or 4DX, dropping to Rs 250 and Rs 350 once a film crosses 60 shows. The other is a Revised Revenue Share, where a producer's cut of net box office can be trimmed by up to 7.5% of the existing rate instead. PVR INOX says it wants this arrangement permanent, with the numbers revisited every three years using cost data and producer consultation.

The backstory explains why this is landing now. Last year's release of Jolly LLB 3 turned into a genuine standoff when Viacom18 refused to pay VPF and PVR Inox suspended bookings twice, once the night before release, forcing the makers to pay under protest. Two weeks later the CCI opened its investigation, and in the process it surfaced something that had industry insiders talking for months: PVR INOX had struck side deals with YRF and Viacom carrying