BANGALORE: After buying a bottle of packaged drinking water or something similar at a hotel for Rs 50, did you ever want think of suing the hotel for charging you more than the maximum retail price (which is less than Rs 15) printed on the label? An interesting case that came up before the Karnataka State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (KSCDRC) seems to point out that there is nothing much one can do about it.
Recently, one Usman, filed a complaint against a hotel at the Bijapur District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum alleging that the hotel had collected Rs 36 more than the MRP for three alcoholic and one non-alcoholic beverages consumed by him. The district forum ruled in favour of Usman and ordered the hotel owner to deposit Rs 5,000 in the consumer welfare fund, ordered compensation of Rs 2,000 for the mental agony suffered by the consumer and refunding of the excess amount collected, along with 12 per cent interest.
The hotel filed an appeal before the KSCDRC, which stayed the district forum ruling in favour of Usman. The argument was based on the decision of the Supreme Court made in the case of State of Himachal Pradesh versus Associated Hotels of India which was recently applied by the Delhi High Court in the case of the Federation of Hotels and Restaurants Association of India versus Union of India.
As per the law laid down by the Supreme Court and as applied by the Delhi High Court, “Maximum Retail Price (MRP) is not applicable to hotels and restaurants as the service offered in the hotels and restaurants is inseparable from the food supplied.
“The transaction between a hotelier and a visitor to the hotel is thus one essentially of service in the performance of which and as part of the amenities incidental to that service, the hotelier serves meals at stated hours. The revenue, therefore, is not entitled to split up the transaction into two parts, one of service and the other of sale of food stuffs and to split up also the bill charged by the hotelier as consisting of charges for lodging and charges for food stuffs served to the customer.” After hearing the arguments of the hotel and taking the Supreme Court judgment into account, the State Commission has passed an interim order staying the order passed by the District Forum. The case will be taken up again on March 23.
jayadevan@epmltd.com