HYDERABAD: The Supreme Court’s order allowing hotels and restaurants to charge more than MRP for bottled water has led to confusion with hotel owners interpreting the order as if it has given them a free hand in setting the price. Clarifying the state government’s position, an official of the legal metrology department said that the SC order was meant only for special cases and not for bottled water sold in retail at hotels.
The SC order of December 12 allows dual pricing only for “institutional consumer” i.e hotels which source their bottled water directly from bottling companies. The single bench of the court was of the view that both the Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1976 and the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 would not apply to hotels. “The court’s order is being interpreted in a wrong way,” said Vimal Babu, deputy controller of legal metrology.
“At present, we use the provisions of unsafe trade practices rules under the Consumer Protection Act for keeping a check on these practices, “ he added.However, hotel owners in Hyderabad buy bottled water from third-party water distribution companies and are under the impression that the SC order allows them to set their own price for bottled water. “After the SC order, we are happy now. We usually charge Rs 5 to Rs 10 more towards cooling charges. The hotels that charge Rs 20 extra are the high-end luxury ones,” said Venkat Reddy, president of Telangana State Hotel Association.
“Standard hotels can’t charge higher than Rs 10 for bottled water as the customer will not come back and public perception about the hotel will turn negative,” he added. “Tomorrow a movie theatre will say they are a service industry and a roadside bakery too could take advantage of this loophole,” said Vijay Gopal, director, Forum Against Corruption. “There was no other representation in the case except the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) and the Government of India,” he added.