Bengaluru Pub Fined For Forcing Customer To Pay Service Charge

A pub in Bengaluru has been ordered to compensate a customer for adding a 7.5% service charge to their bill, by a consumer disputes redressal commission. The ShakesBierre Brewpub and Kitchen on Brigade Road has been ordered to pay Rs 500 to the customer as compensation. As per guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, charging additional service charges to a customer without their express consent amounts to unfair trade practice.
When Indiranagar resident Sameer Annageri Krishnamurthy visited the pub in May last year, he received a bill that included a 7.5% service charge (Rs 217.9) on the expense of food and drinks. When the consumer questioned the pub management on being forced to pay service charge when it should be voluntary, the staff allegedly insisted that he had to pay the amount. Sameer then filed a complaint with the Bengaluru Urban 2nd Additional District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Shantinagar against the pub.
According to the guidelines of the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), the payment of service charges at restaurants is voluntary and at consumers' discretion. The order issued under Section 18 (2) (I) of The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 prohibits levying service charges by hotels or restaurants "automatically" or "by default" in the bill or collecting it under any other name.
The pub management told the consumer disputes redressal commission that they had later refunded the service charges to the customer. However, the commission noted that the refund was made only after the customer filed a complaint. The commission ruled that the customer was entitled to compensation and ordered the ShakesBierre management to pay the compensation of Rs 500 within 30 days.