Service Charge Is Voluntary

After the Union Government approved guidelines on service charge, the Food and Consumer Affairs Minister, Ram Vilas Paswan has declared in the recent past that the service charge on hotel and restaurant bills was absolutely voluntary and not mandatory. According to the guidelines, the column of service charge in the bill will be left blank, which the customers can fill up at their discretion before making the final payment. "Guidelines are being sent to states for necessary action at their ends," the minister tweeted.

According to the Minister, service charge should be paid as far customer’s discretion and hotels and restaurants within India should not decide “how much service charge is to be paid by the customer.” According to a senior Consumer Affairs Ministry official, "If there is mandatory levy of service charge, customers can file a complaint in the consumer court."

Paswan had said that his ministry had chalked out an advisory on the service charge issue and it was sent to the PMO for approval. However, stringent action against the violation of this guideline cannot be imposed at present because of the deficiency in our consumer protection laws. After the announcement of the Minister regarding service charge, many restaurant associations in India were quick to point out that guidelines were not laws. “Unless there is legislation to this effect, restaurants will continue to levy service charge,” stated Riyaz Amlani , the President,  National Restaurant Association of India  (NRAI).