Due to the rising consumer complaints, the Central Consumer Protection Authority-CCPA has declared in their guideline “No hotels or restaurants shall add service charge automatically default in the bill”.
The hotels and restaurants generally add 10% service charge to the total bill. But since there were a lot of complaints by the customers regarding this, the CCPA issued a new set of guidelines on Monday to prevent unfair trade practices and violation of consumer rights.
According to the guidelines, the service charge is voluntary, optional and at consumer’s discretion and the hotel management should inform about it to the consumer clearly.
Hotels and restaurants cannot force their customers to pay the service charge. They cannot add it to their bill without their consent. If any consumer finds that the service charge is added to their bill without their consent, they may ask the concerned authorities to remove it.
If they are denied of this service customers may lodge a complaint on the National Consumer Helpline by calling 1915 or through NCH mobile app. They can also file their complaint by sending an email to CCPA directly or they can also submit a complaint letter to the District Collector of their districts.
However, on Wednesday the National Restaurant Association of India has argued that there is no legal basis for the ban of service charge in food bills.
According to the NRAI the government cannot make changes in levy of service charge in food bills by making guidelines, there has to be a new law or an amendment in the existing laws to make these changes.
Service charge is a part of the total price of the service provided to the consumer and it is the decision of the service provider whether to add it to the bill. The Government has no rights to interfere in the decision making of the service provider.
This has caused a great deal of confusion among the restaurant owners and the consumers. However, an official of Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) claimed that most of the hotels and restaurants have already been following the guidelines since a long time and the FHRAI will issue a detailed statement after studying the guidelines properly.