New Delhi, April 29 (IANS) The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) on Tuesday said it has taken suo moto action against five restaurants — Makhna Deli, Xero Courtyard, Castle Barbeque, Chaayos and Fiesta by Barbeque Nation — for failing to refund mandatory service charges despite judgment held by the Delhi High Court.
The regulator has served notices to the five restaurants in the national capital under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, directing the restaurants to refund the service charge amounts.
“This measure is aimed at reducing the undue pressure on Consumers to pay additional amount at the time of availing services at any Restaurant as no Hotel or Restaurant shall force a consumer to pay Service Charge or Service Charge shall not be collected from consumers by any other name,” said the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.
In 2022, CCPA issued guidelines to curb unfair trade practices and protect consumer interests regarding service charges in hotels and restaurants.
The guidelines stipulate that no hotels or restaurant shall add service charge automatically or by default in the food bill.
They also make it clear that no collection of service charge shall be done by any other name and no hotel or restaurant will force a consumer to pay service charge and will clearly inform the consumer that service charge is voluntary, optional and at consumer’s discretion.
No restriction on entry or provision of services based on collection of service charge will be imposed on consumers and service charge will not be collected by adding it along with the food bill and levying GST on the total amount, according to the guidelines.
On Match 28, 2025, the Delhi High Court upheld the CCPA guidelines on service charges. Subsequently, it came to the notice of the CCPA, through complaints received on the National Consumer Helpline (1915), that grievances had been registered alleging that certain restaurants continued to impose a mandatory service charge without obtaining prior consent from consumers, thereby disregarding consumer rights and indulged in unfair trade practices as per the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
—IANS
na/
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BhaskarLive.in and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of BhaskarLive.in We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, BhaskarLive.in takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
