Since the cost amounts ranging from Rs 20- 60 lakh to install projectors and servers for digital tech in theatres, theatre owners refused to spend so much just to reduce the costs borne by producers and distributors. Digital service providers swept in and provided the said equipment at the rate of Rs 20,000 per film for a period of years. When the costs of these equipment were met, they would become the property of the theatres, after which the DSPs would only charge a service fee. This was a system accepted worldwide. After 2018, VPF becoming completely non-existent was common knowledge.

But the Indian film industry was fooled.