Restaurant Service Charge: Restaurants cannot forcibly take service charge from consumers, warned by writing a letter to NRAI President

Restaurants cannot extort service charges from customers. The Department of Consumer Affairs has issued a warning in this regard. There are complaints that restaurants force customers to forcibly pay service charges. Because of these complaints, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs has called a meeting of the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) on 2nd June.

The ministry has called this meeting after taking cognizance of media reports and complaints lodged by customers on the National Consumer Helpline (NCH). Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh has also written to the NRAI chairman, saying that restaurants and eateries are charging the service charges from customers unfairly, even though the collection of any such charges is 'voluntary'.

Misleading is done by putting pressure on the customers

The consumer affairs secretary has also said in the letter that customers are forced to pay service charges. These fees are set by restaurants at arbitrarily high rates. When consumers request the removal of such charges from the bill amount, attempts are made to legitimize such charges by misleading them.

The matter of rights of customers will be investigated in detail

The letter also states that the issue affects consumers daily. This is also a matter of their rights, hence the Department of Consumer Affairs has decided to examine it closely and in detail.

In a meeting convened on June 2, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs will discuss consumer complaints regarding the inclusion of service charges in the bill under the guise of any other fee or service charge by the restaurant.

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