Delhi HC Stays CCPA Guidelines Restraining Levying Of Service Charge By Restaurants And Hotels

A single judge bench of Justice Yashwant Verma stayed the guidelines of Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) which restrained restaurants from levying service charge automatically or by default in the bill.

The plea by Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India challenged the guidelines of CCPA. 

The CCPA, on July 4, notified guidelines to protect consumers from unfair trade practices and to prevent restaurants and hotels from levying service charge on their bills. The guidelines mention the number "1915" which can be dialled by a consumer to complain about an unfair trade practice.

"No collection of service charge shall be done by any other name. No hotel or restaurant shall force a consumer to pay service charge and shall clearly inform the consumer that service charge is voluntary/optional and at the consumer's discretion," the new guidelines stated.

The CCPA guidelines further stated that the consumer may initially request the concerned hotel or restaurant to remove service charge from the bill amount. The consumer may also, in case the hotel or restaurant does not comply, file a complaint against unfair trade practices with the Consumer Commission.  

Mr.Lalit Bhasin, Ms.Nina Gupta, Ms.Ananya Marwah, Ms.Ruchika Joshi and Mr.Ajay Pratap Singh, Advs represented Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India.