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Ludhiana consumer forum directs eatery to refund service charges
With service charges, Ludhiana consumer forum also directed the restaurant to pay compensation of ₹10,000 to complainant Neeraj Kumar
District consumer disputes redressal commission has directed a food outlet to refund ₹1,182.76 to Ludhiana complainant along with compensation of ₹10,000 for forcefully demanding service charges on a total bill of ₹13,999.
The forum, in its hearing, headed by Sanjeev Batra ruled out that the restaurant shall refund the amount of ₹1,182.76 to the complainant along with interest of 8% from May 14, 2022, till the date of actual payment.
With this, the forum also directed the restaurant to pay compensation of ₹10,000 to complainant Neeraj Kumar.
In the bill, Pent house, a restaurant in Kipps Complex, charged VAT of ₹243.10, CGST of ₹88.21, and SGST of ₹88.21 along with service charges of ₹1,182.76 from the complainant.
Neeraj Kumar Goyal, a resident of BRS Nagar filed a complaint on July 08, 2022, under Section 35 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, seeking a refund of the service charge of ₹1,182.76 along with compensation of ₹1,00,000. In his complaint, Neeraj stated that he raised the issue of service charges, but the food outlet asked him to pay the total bill amount which he found no other way than to pay the entire amount of ₹13,999. He had also sent a legal notice to the restaurant to refund the service charge of ₹1,182.76 but failed to receive a positive response.
For the uninitiated, According to the guidelines from the ministry of consumer affairs, food, and public distribution, it is optional for consumers to pay a service charge at restaurants, and the decision to pay it or not is entirely up to the consumer.
