The top five cities in terms of service charge complaints filed between July 5-8 are New Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune and Ghaziabad.
The top five cities in terms of service charge complaints filed between July 5-8 are New Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune and Ghaziabad.
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) on July 9 said that 85 complaints have been registered on the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) since the new guidelines were issued on July 4, barring hotels and restaurants from levying service charges by default. has given. The District Collector should take strict action against the violators.
The top five cities in terms of service charge complaints filed between July 5-8 are New Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune and Ghaziabad.
Consumer protection regulator CCPA has written to chief secretaries and district collectors of states and union territories to ensure wide publicity of the new guidelines and take appropriate action against violators to protect consumer interests.
On July 4, the CCPA issued new guidelines barring hotels and restaurants from levying service charges automatically or by default on food bills. It also clearly states the steps consumers can take in case of violation of the guidelines.
“From July 5 to July 8, 2022, i.e. after the guidelines were issued by the CCPA, 85 complaints have been registered at the NCH,” the CCPA said in a statement.
Around 18 complaints were received in New Delhi, 15 in Bengaluru, 11 in Mumbai, 4 in Pune and 3 in Ghaziabad.
Major complaints include mandating service charges by hotels/restaurants, shaming consumers for refusing to pay, adding charges by any other name and suppressing consumer information that payment of service charges is voluntary.
The CCPA said that around 537 complaints were filed by consumers for levying service charges from April 1, 2021 to June 20, 2022.
Stating that the new guidelines are not “advisory in nature”, CCPA Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare said they are fully “enforceable by law”. He said the guidelines have been issued under Section 18(2)(l) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, which empowers the CCPA to issue necessary guidelines to prevent unfair trade practices and protect the interests of consumers.
Consequently, the CCPA has written to all state chief secretaries and district collectors with a clear directive that levying service charges in contravention of the guidelines is unfair trade practice and affects the rights of consumers as a class, and that such complaints should be addressed. Cognizance should be taken. on priority.
“The district collectors can investigate the violation of guidelines on the basis of such complaints and submit their report to the CCPA within 15 days,” he said.
The difference between the new guidelines issued by the CCPA and the previous guidelines is that in the intervening period, the erstwhile Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was replaced by the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, which came into force in July 2020.
It created a new statutory body CCPA which has been empowered by Parliament to take cognizance of unfair trade practices. Therefore, any violation of the guidelines will be taken seriously and appropriate action will be taken against unfair trade practices and violation of the rights of consumers, the statement said.
If a consumer finds that a hotel or restaurant is charging a service charge in violation of the guidelines, the CCPA said the consumer can request the concerned hotel or restaurant to deduct the fee from the bill amount.
Consumers can lodge complaints on NCH, which acts as a dispute redressal mechanism at the pre-litigation level, by calling the number 1915 or through the NCH mobile app.
Consumers can also lodge complaints with the Consumer Commission. The complaint can be lodged electronically through the e-filing portal www.edaakhil.nic.in for speedy and effective redressal.
In addition, consumers can submit a complaint to the District Collector of the district concerned for investigation and subsequent action by the CCPA. The complaint can also be sent to CCPA by e-mail at com-ccpa@nic.in.