Service charge without consent? Restaurant told to refund Rs 129, pay Rs 5,000 compensation

NEW DELHI: The Chandigarh District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission held a restaurant liable for deficiency in service and unfair trade practice for charging a customer without consent.

The commission made clear that a restaurant cannot force diners to pay a service charge without their knowledge or agreement.The commission directed Caper Rooftop Bistro, a restaurant in Bathinda, Punjab, to refund Rs 129 collected as service charge and pay Rs 5,000 as compensation for harassment and litigation costs.What was the issue?The complaint was filed by Rahul Goyal, a lawyer at the Punjab and Haryana high court, who visited Caper Rooftop Bistro in Bathinda on October 5, 2025.

After the meal, the restaurant gave him two bills — Rs 2,291 and Rs 1,191 — both of which had a service charge of Rs 79.10 and Rs 49.90 added to them, totalling Rs 129, without telling him about it beforehand or asking for his consent.When Goyal objected and asked for the charge to be removed, the restaurant refused. He pointed out that under the Central Consumer Protection Authority guidelines, service charge is optional and cannot be added to a bill automatically or collected by force, but the restaurant still did not remove the charge.

He then filed a consumer complaint seeking a refund of Rs 129 along with compensation for the trouble caused.The restaurant never showed up before the commission despite being served notice and the matter was decided without hearing its side.What did the commission say?A bench of President Amrinder Singh Sidhu and Member Brij Mohan Sharma ruled in favour of the complainant and held the restaurant liable.The commission found that there was no evidence to show that the customer had agreed to pay the service charge or was told about it before it was added to his bill.

It also made clear that a customer cannot be made to pay anything beyond the actual price of what they ordered unless it is legally allowed and clearly told to them upfront.On the restaurant's behaviour, the commission held that adding a service charge to the bill automatically and collecting it without the customer's consent amounts to deficiency in service and an unfair trade practice.The commission also noted that the restaurant's decision to stay away from the proceedings spoke against it. "The non appearance of the OP shows that it has nothing to say in its defence against the allegations made by the complainant," it said.The commission directed the restaurant to refund Rs 129 and pay Rs 5,000 as compensation for harassment and litigation costs, all within 45 days of receiving the order.