Delhi HC to hear pleas against service charge on bill in restaurants on April 12

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday listed for hearing on April 12 the petitions by restaurant bodies challenging the guidelines prohibiting hotels and restaurants from automatically levying service charge on food billsThe guidelines issued by the Central Consumer Protection Authority CCPA on July 4 last year were stayed by the high court later that monthThe Centre urged the court to consider the matter including its application seeking vacation of the stay order while claiming the guidelines were issued in the interest of consumersIt also claimed that certain restaurants were now relying on the interim order to give an impression that they are entitled to levy service chargeJustice Prathiba M Singh Wednesday said the interim order cannot be modified without hearing the parties and added if the main matter cannot be heard on the next date the application for vacation of stay will be consideredAlso read Sitaphal baked yogurt Quick and easy dishes you can make with custard appleCounsel appearing for the petitioners said the service charge which has been in existence for the last several years is a traditional charge and is distributed among those who are not before the customers and restaurants are seeking it after displaying due notice of the same on their menu cards and in their premisesThe petitioners National Restaurant Association of India NRAI and Federation of Hotels and Restaurant Associations have argued that the CCPA order is arbitrary untenable and ought to be quashedSeeking dismissal of the petitions the CCPA has said in its counter affidavit the petitioners have totally failed to appreciate the rights of the consumers whose hardearned money is unjustly collected automatically or by default in the name of service chargeIt has added the objective of collecting mandatoryservice charge from consumers over and above the price of food items and applicable taxes is unlawful as no proportionate service is separately provided to consumersThe high court had on July 20 2022 stayed the CCPA guideline and said the stay is subject to the petitioners ensuring that the levy of service charge in addition to the price and taxes and the obligation of the customer to pay the same is duly and prominently displayed on the menu or other places on the premisesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever