Dendy Cinema Pty Ltd has paid a $19,800 penalty after the ACCC issued it with an infringement notice for allegedly failing to prominently show the total price, as a single figure, of movie tickets it sold online, in a practice commonly known as 'drip-pricing'.
The ACCC alleges that Dendy breached the Australian Consumer Law by failing to prominently display the total single price for tickets, including the unavoidable per ticket booking fee, at the earliest opportunity in the booking process.
Instead, Dendy displayed prices that did not include the unavoidable per ticket booking fee, and did not display a total price for tickets until consumers reached the final stages of the online transaction.
"Businesses must be upfront about the total minimum quantifiable price of a product or service," ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said.
"Consumers are sometimes lured into purchases they would not otherwise have made when businesses display only part of the price upfront and reveal the total price only towards the end of the purchasing process.
"By initially only displaying part of the total price for a movie ticket, Dendy has reduced the ability of consumers to make an informed purchasing decision," Ms Lowe said.
The ACCC is also looking at pricing practices in the cinema industry more broadly to ensure that per ticket booking fees are being presented in a way that complies with the pricing obligations under the Australian Consumer Law.
"We encourage all businesses to review their online pricing practices to ensure they are complying with their obligations under the law, including providing the total minimum quantifiable price of products and services in their advertising and at the earliest opportunity in the booking process," Ms Lowe said.
One of the ACCC's Compliance and Enforcement Priorities for 2025-26 is 'misleading surcharging practices and other add on costs'.
Further information about pricing is available on the ACCC website at Price Displays.
Background
Dendy operates 52 screens across six cinemas in NSW, QLD, and the ACT.
The total minimum quantifiable price is the lowest amount that a consumer could pay, including any mandatory fees or pre-selected optional fees, that can be determined at the time of stating the price.
In November 2024, the ACCC took legal action against online travel booking site Webjet Marketing Pty Ltd for allegedly making false and misleading representations to consumers about flight prices and bookings. The ACCC alleged Webjet breached the Australian Consumer Law when it made statements about the minimum price of airfares which omitted compulsory fees.
Note
The ACCC can issue an infringement notice when it has reasonable grounds to believe a person or business has contravened certain consumer protection provisions in the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).
The payment of a penalty specified in an infringement notice is not an admission of a contravention of the ACL. The ACL sets the penalty amount.
