Telangana News

It is known that the Centre reiterated on Monday that customers dissatisfied with service could choose not to pay the service charge levied by a hotel or restaurant.

Countering this, the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) issued a statement implying that customers were free not to eat at a restaurant if they don't wish to pay the service charge. NRAI president Riyaaz Amlani said that restaurants follow the Consumer Protection Act that is being used to justify the move to penalize those who levy it without the consent of consumers. 

"The act stops us from indulging in any unfair method or deceptive practice. We clearly mention the service charge, we levy on our menus. We are not indulging in any unfair trade practice," he said, adding that they were employee incentives distributed evenly among the work force. "This is all part of a bill on which the restaurants pay VAT while the employees pay income tax. It also does away with cash tips," he said. 

Amlani said that, many restaurants would politely ask customers if they were willing to pay a service charge and, if not, tell them they would have to dine at a place that didn't levy one. It should be seen, whether NRAI's counter would impact the Centre or not.