The central consumer protection authority (CCPA) has imposed monetary penalties and ordered refunds against restaurants that automatically added a service charge to customer bills, declaring the practice illegal and an unfair trade practice under consumer law. In a suo motu action following consumer complaints, the CCPA has proceeded against 27 restaurants across India, directing errant establishments to refund the service charge collected and imposing penalties of up to Rs50,000 for violations of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
According to CCPA, investigations revealed that several establishments were flouting these rules by adding a 10% service charge by default. Among those pulled up were Café Blue Bottle in Patna and China Gate Restaurant Pvt Ltd which operates Bora Bora in Mumbai.
The move follows a 28 March 2025 judgement of the Delhi High Court which upheld the CCPA’s guidelines on service charge and ruled that compulsory collection by restaurants is contrary to law.
The Court also affirmed that CCPA is fully empowered to enforce its guidelines, removing any lingering ambiguity around the authority’s jurisdiction in such cases.
The guidelines, issued in July 2022, make it clear that restaurants cannot automatically or by default add a service charge to a bill, collect it under any other name, or force customers to pay it. They also prohibit restaurants from denying entry or service to customers who refuse to pay the charge and bar the inclusion of a service charge in the bill for the purpose of levying GST (goods and services tax).
The action was triggered by consumer complaints received through the national consumer helpline (NCH) many of which were supported by invoices showing the automatic addition of a service charge. A detailed probe found that such billing practices fall squarely within the definition of unfair trade practice under Section 2(47) of the Act.
In the Café Blue Bottle case, CCPA directed the restaurant to refund the entire service charge collected from the complainant, immediately stop the practice, and pay a penalty of Rs30,000.
In the case of China Gate Restaurant, the restaurant refunded the service charge during the hearing. The authority, however, went a step further, ordering the company to modify its software-driven billing system to remove any default addition of service charge or similar levies. It also imposed a penalty of Rs50,000 and instructed the restaurant to ensure that its publicly listed email address remains active for consumer grievance redressal, as required under the law.
CCPA says it is closely monitoring service charge-related complaints through the national consumer helpline and warned that strict action will continue against restaurants that fail to comply with the guidelines.
The latest enforcement action sends a clear signal to the hospitality industry that service charge remains a voluntary payment at the customer’s discretion—and not a mandatory component of the bill.
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