Restaurant in Punjab ordered to pay Rs 5,000 after adding Rs 129 service charge without consent and refusing to remove it

A Bathinda rooftop restaurant has been ordered to refund an unlawfully collected service charge and pay Rs 5,000 in compensation after a Chandigarh consumer commission found it had automatically added the charge to a customer's bill without consent or prior disclosure.

The complainant, Rahul Goyal, a lawyer practising at the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Chandigarh, visited Caper Rooftop Bistro in Bathinda on 5 October 2025. After the meal, he was issued two billsfor Rs 1,191.

Both bills included a line item labelled "Service Charge." The first carried a charge of Rs 79.10 and the second Rs 49.90, bringing the total service charge to Rs 129.


Goyal alleged that he was neither informed of the charge before placing his order, nor asked for his consent when the bill was presented. When he raised an objection and requested that the charge be removed, the restaurant reportedly refused.

He subsequently sent a legal notice seeking a refund on 19 September 2025. After receiving no response, he approached the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Chandigarh in January 2026.

What the commission found

The commission, comprising President Amrinder Singh Sidhu and Member B.M. Sharma, noted that Caper Rooftop Bistro did not appear before it despite being served notice and was accordingly proceeded against ex-parte.

With no rebuttal from the restaurant's side, the commission accepted Goyal's evidence as unrebutted. It found that the service charge had been added automatically to both bills, without the customer's knowledge or agreement.

The bench referred to guidelines issued by the Central Consumer Protection Authority on 4 July 2022, which state clearly that service charge in hotels and restaurants is optional and voluntary. Under these guidelines, restaurants cannot impose the charge automatically, cannot collect it forcibly, and cannot levy it under any other name.

The commission concluded that the restaurant's conduct amounted to both a deficiency in service and an unfair trade practice.

What the commission ordered

The commission directed Caper Rooftop Bistro, which operates as a unit of Mazbot Ventures Private Limited, to refund Rs 129 to the complainant.

It also ordered the restaurant to pay Rs 5,000 as a lump-sum amount covering mental agony, harassment, and litigation expenses.

The order carries a compliance deadline of 45 days from the date the restaurant receives the certified copy of the ruling.

Check the complete judgement here: