(This story originally appeared in on Mar 25, 2017)

Despite directive on levy being optional, restaurants continue to charge it.

On Thursday evening, senior journalist Rahul Singh had dinner at an upscale restaurant near the Gateway of India . When the bill was presented to him, he noticed that the restaurant had charged him for “service”, and he decided to contest the imposition of the charge. “I eat out often, but this was the first time I protested. The manager, though, refused to remove the service charge. I feel a lot of restaurants are still illegally putting a service charge.” In the end, Singh paid the service charge, but “under protest”. Singh is not the only person for whom a meal left a bitter aftertaste. Ever since the Department of Consumer Affairs released a notifi-cation in January stating that diners cannot be forced to pay service charge at restaurants – it said the amount could be paid voluntarily -- several people across the city have voiced their protest at the reluctance of eateries in the city to follow the guidelines. But speaking out at restaurants has not helped matters – most restaurants in Mumbai still insist on charging customers for service.A customer can choose not to go to a restaurant that has a service charge, said Riyaaz Amlani, the president of the National Restaurant Association of India . “As long as he knows that he is being charged, it is a perfectly legal activity. Millions of people in the hospitality business depend on service charges for their livelihood. It is the best practice that is followed all over the world.”Amlani’s justification won’t impress Ghatkopar resident Dr Vipin Pareek, who said that he “refuses to pay it” every time he dines out. “Even if it means arguing. The directive is clear, it’s wrong for restaurants to continue to charge this.” Mitesh Rangras of Lemon Leaf restaurant said that he is ready to forgo the charge if a customer has a valid reason. “Like if the food was not up to his expectations. But otherwise we have a board outside our restaurant that clearly informs customers about service charges.”So, what happens if there is a stalemate? If both the customer and the restaurant stick to their guns? Uday Wavikar, vice president of the Consumer Court Bar Association, said that if restaurants continue to charge customers despite the DCA’s notification, it amounted to cheating.Customers, he said, could file an FIR. “Under civil law, your recourse would be to go to the consumer court; under criminal law, you can file an FIR. You’d need to go to the police station with the representative of the hotel. If they won’t come with you, you may have to pay the bill, then take a copy of the bill and a copy of the notification from the Centre with you in order to lodge the complaint.”The rigmarole of filing an FIR, or approaching the consumer court, though, seems to have deterred some diners, and they said they would rather choose to simply pay up. “They (restaurateurs) feel that a person will not make a scene while dining with their loved ones. I’ve stopped paying attention, really,” said businessman Rajat Jain. Communications specialist Pourushasp Mehta told Mirror that while he was aware of the notification, he also did not want to make a fuss at restaurants. Some city restaurateurs are banking on this very passivity to continue charging for service. Sassy Spoon’s Irfan Pabaney claims that customers don’t really mind paying it. “It is only a small section that minds it. Honestly, everyone has forgotten about it.”