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The Department of Consumer Affairs has written to Kabir Surrey, President, National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), and Suresh Poddar, President, Federation of Hotels and Restaurants of India (FHRAI), regarding the altercation that allegedly broke out between customers and restaurant staff at a Noida shopping mall over a service charge of Rs 970. Sunday.
The notice, which was issued by department secretary Rohit Kumar on Tuesday, states that the service charge is a discretionary fee and should not be “forcibly imposed on consumers, especially when consumers are unhappy with the service provided to them by the restaurant”.
A video of customers and employees allegedly hitting each other at Spectrum Mall in Sector 75 in Noida was widely shared on social media on Monday.
“I urge you to appropriately advise the members of your association not to insist that a service charge be charged to consumers on a compulsory basis, particularly where a consumer has made a request to have it removed from the bill. You agree that any such charge is in the nature of gratuities or gratuities , which the consumer may decide to pay voluntarily depending on his/her satisfaction with the quality and service provided by the establishment,” the letter stated.
A case regarding service charge guidelines is being heard before the Delhi High Court. Last year, the court kept Central Agency for Consumer Protection guidelines that prevent hotels and restaurants from charging a service charge “automatically or by default” on the bill. In April this year, the court said the former order should not appear on menu cards because it could “mislead consumers that the service fee has been approved by the court.”
Suri told the Indian Express that the body had taken note of the message. An NRAI member, who did not wish to be named, said, “The service fee is distributed to all employees in most cases… Don’t we pay the convenience fee at railways, airports and taxis? (Service fee) is basically the same thing.”
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