Can hotels take service charge without customers’ permission? Brief report

It’s possible that you haven’t noticed it, but when the bill comes to you post a rendezvous at a hotel, there are other charges excluding GST and prices of the food items. Yes, we are talking about service charge, which has since been made optional from 2017. However, many hotels don’t check with the customers before billing them for the same, reports The NewsMinute.

According to the Consumer Affairs Department, tipping or service charge is left to the discretion of the customers and hotels can’t indirectly deduct the amount in the bill.

The TNM report also adds that despite the existence of the guidelines, many hotels bill customers 5-10 per cent of the service charge on the total amount. The reason is being attributed to an absence of law that makes service charge voluntary.

The report further says that a lot of people have been paying this service charge without the knowledge that it isn’t a part of the taxes.