I had visited a good restaurant back in May. At that time there were only talks of abolishing involuntary service taxes legally but my knowledge was limited. My friends protested against paying the service charge but the restaurant manager explained that they could do nothing because the restaurant clearly mentions 10% service charge at the front. We should not have entered the restaurant if we were unwilling to pay the service tax mentioned at the entrance. It felt unfair to pay an exorbitant amount of service charge for mediocre services.

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), established under The Consumer Protection Act has brought out new guidelines this month which subjects restaurants and bars to legal action for violations of any guidelines. This follows the 2017 attempt at prohibiting the levy of service charges but the centre says it will have a better execution this time.

The 5 major guidelines are as follows:

1) No added service charge automatically or by default
2) Service charge cannot be collected by any other name
3) No restaurant/hotel can force the customer to pay a service charge and mention that it is voluntary
4) No restriction/entry or provision of services based on service charges
5) Service charge cannot be collected by adding it to food bill and levying GST on the total amount

In case the restaurant still forces you to pay despite your request to remove the service charge, you can lodge a complaint with National Consumer Helpline (NCH) by calling 1915 or through the NCH app. (Source: Indian Express)

The new guidelines have sparked widespread protests from restaurants and hoteliers who say the new guidelines are illegal and baseless.

Restaurants clearly mention the service charges and there are no hidden charges. They also argue that the new guidelines are not enforced by law as such (Source: The Wire, PTI)

The guidelines and the legal procedures are still unclear to an extent. What's your opinion on service tax and the new guidelines?