According to the statement issued by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), hotels and restaurants are not meant to automatically levy service charge to a consumer’s bill on food; they are now allowed to choose whether they want to pay extra for the services offered by the restaurant.
If any restaurant is found to be levying tax duties on services, they can be punished so if any customer file complaints against them for violating the rule.
Issuing the guideline, the CCPA said, “No hotels or restaurants shall add service charge automatically or by default in the bill. There should not be any collection of service charge by any other name.” The same was brief over a statement by the Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
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After the guideline has been issued, hotels and restaurants are no longer allowed to charge service taxes from the customers without their consent. They are also to notify the customers about the charge being voluntary or optional and are only meant to pay at their discretion.
The guideline also state that there should be no restriction on provision or entry of services in terms of allocation by service charges, and that no matter what, they are not to be imposed on customers.
The CCPA further added that the service charges are not meant to be collected by shifting it alongside the food bill – the bills should be free of such charges. The Goods and Service Tax (GST) are however should be included in the bill.
If any consumer notice discrepancy and find out that a particular restaurant/hotel is levying service charges, then they are supposed to report it to the CCPA and immediately ask the management to remove it from the bill amount.
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One can also file a complaint against any such issues to the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) through the calling line of 1915 or the NCH mobile application. Consumers can also file complaints in other portal such as the e-daakhil portal or the Consumer Commission.
