Guwahati: The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) has issued a warning to eateries about forcing "service charges" on customers.

In a letter to the President of the National Restaurant Association of India, Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, stated that restaurants and eateries are collecting service charges from customers by default, despite the fact that such charges are voluntary and at the discretion of the customer, and are not required by law.

The letter claims that consumers are compelled to pay service charges, which are frequently set unnecessarily high by eateries. Consumers are also being misled about the validity of such charges and harassed by restaurants when they request that such charges be removed from their bills.

"Because this problem affects consumers at large on a daily basis and has important ramifications for consumer rights," the letter continues, "the department found it essential to study it with greater care and depth."

The following consumer concerns will be considered during a meeting with the National Restaurant Association of India on June 2 to examine problems pertaining to Service Charge charged by restaurants.

The meeting is the consequence of the DoCA taking note of a number of media reports as well as consumer complaints submitted with the National Consumer Helpline (NCH).

The Department of Consumer Affairs has previously established rules on the charging of service charges by hotels/restaurants on April 4, 2017. The rules state that simply entering a restaurant does not constitute permission to pay a service fee. Any limitation on entrance imposed on the customer by requiring her/him to pay a service charge as a condition of making an order is considered a "restrictive commercial practise" under the Consumer Protection Act.