New Delhi: Five-star hotels charging exorbitant rates for food items like bananas and eggs is ‘unfair trade practice’ and the government will seek explanations from them, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said Tuesday.
Ram Vilas Paswan also said that provisions will also be made while framing rules and regulations under the recently enacted ‘Consumer Protection Act’ to crack down on such cases.
The minister was referring to a video that recently went viral in which actor Rahul Bose was seen complaining about five-star hotel JW Marriott, Chandigarh for billing two bananas at an exorbitant price of Rs 442. One more customer also complained of being charged Rs 1,700 for two boiled eggs by another five-star hotel. This video has also gone viral on social media.
“There are complaints and reports in social media and media about overcharging by some five-star hotels for items like bananas and eggs. This is a serious and unfortunate matter,” Paswan told reporters here.
Ram Vilas Paswan wondered how five-star hotels could charge Rs 442 for two bananas and Rs 1,700 for two eggs when these items were sold in the open market at very cheap rates. “How much they (hotels) will charge for services offered,” he quipped.
Paswan said the department will seek explanations from the fiver-star hotels concerned on what basis they have charged such huge amounts.
“We will not allow dual MRP (maximum retail price),” Paswan asserted and added that the government will make rules to check such practices under the Consumer Protection Act that was recently passed by Parliament.
Speaking on the sidelines after the minister’s press conference, Consumer Affairs Secretary Avinash K Srivastava said, “Prima facie it is an unfair trade practice. As the minister has directed, we will seek explanations from these hotels.”
The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) had defended JW Marriott, Chandigarh when the controversy broke out. It said the hotel did not do anything ‘illegal’ and asserted it did the right thing by charging 18 per cent GST on food and beverages served in the hotel premises.
The FHRAI had argued that unlike a retail store where bananas could be purchased at market price, a hotel offers service, quality, plate, cutlery, accompaniment, sanitised fruit, ambience and luxury, and not just the commodity alone.
PTI