Consumers are being falsely misled on the legality of such charges and harassed by restaurants on making a request to remove such charges from the bill amount.
Agencies
The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) has slammed restaurants for levying service charge, following complaints by consumers, and set up a meeting with restaurant owners on June 2 to discuss the issue.
Consumers are being falsely misled on the legality of such charges and harassed by restaurants on making a request to remove such charges from the bill amount, said a senior official from the consumer affairs, food and public distribution. The collection of any such charge is at the discretion of consumers and not mandatory as per law, said the official.
"Since this issue impacts consumers at large on a daily basis and has significant ramification on the rights of consumers, the department construed it necessary to examine it with closer scrutiny and detail," Rohit Kumar Singh, secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, said in a letter to the president of National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI).
NRAI president Kabir Suri, however, said most customers are happy to pay for the services provided. "Most menus also mention that service charge is discretionary," he said.
The DoCA called the meeting after numerous grievances were registered by consumers on the National Consumer Helpline.
The department said in its guidelines, published in 2017, that the entry of a customer in a restaurant cannot itself be construed as a consent to pay service charge. Any restriction on entry of the consumer by way of forcing them to pay service charge as a condition of placing an order amounts to "restrictive trade practice" under the Consumer Protection Act.
The guidelines mention placing an order by a customer amounts to their agreement to pay the prices displayed on the menu card along with the applicable taxes.
Agencies
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