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Recently, in a restaurant in Noida, a customer and a restaurant staff fought fiercely over service charge. The bill included a service charge of Rs 970. The customer demanded that it should be removed.. This led to a verbal argument between both sides.. The argument turned into a fight. The question here is whether it is justified to forcibly collect service charge from restaurants?

Is it illegal to charge service charge?
Taking service charge is not illegal. Service charge is a discretionary charge. After the Noida incident, Rohit Kumar, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, issued a notice and reiterated that service charge is a discretionary charge. The notice issued to the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) and the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI), said that service charge “should not be forced upon the customer, especially when he is not satisfied with the service of the restaurant.”

Last year, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) had issued some guidelines regarding service charge. It was said in the guidelines that no hotel or restaurant can automatically or by default add service charge to the food bill. Service charge will not be charged by any other name. These guidelines were challenged in the Delhi High Court. The Delhi High Court in its interim order stayed these guidelines. However, it did not say that the service charge would be mandatory. But restaurants started taking wrong advantage of this order.

In many restaurants, this order is being displayed on the menu or display board. It is being shown as if it is mandatory to pay service charge, whereas it is not so. Delhi High Court clarified its stand in April this year saying Its guidelines will not be shown in such a way that the consumer is misled and thinks that the court has approved the levy of service charge.

Rohit Kumar also said in the notice that if a consumer requests the restaurant to waive off service charge, then the restaurant should not insist on levying service charge.

Now the question arises whether has it ever happened to you that you were not happy with the service of the restaurant.? Still you had to pay the service charge. Instead of arguing at that moment, you thought it was better to pay the service charge. But you are feeling cheated and want to complain about it. And you can complain about it.

It is not right to fight in a restaurant, but it is not wrong to fight for your rights either. You can tell them that if you like the food and service, only then you will pay the service charge.  If there is a wrong court order regarding service charge written on their menu or on the display board, then talk about it beforehand. In this way, you will not have to compromise on your rights and will be able to enjoy the food comfortably with your family and friends.