Restaurants cannot levy mandatory service charge as it violates consumer law, CCPA confirms

Restaurants across India do not have any legal standing when automatically adding a service charge to your food bill, a new communique from the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution revealed. The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has been cracking down on such practices as violations of consumer law. The move came on the heels of a 2025 Delhi High Court judgment upheld CCPA’s guidelines, giving the authority full power to act against non-compliant outlets. What action has been taken? The CCPA said it taken suo motu action against 27 restaurants across the country for mandatorily levying…