The Department of Consumer Food and Retail recently issued guidelines for hotels and restaurants prohibiting them from charging a service charge to the consumer’s bill.
“The consumer can lodge a complaint with the National Consumer Helpline (NCH), which operates as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism at the pre-litigation level by calling 1915 or via the NCH mobile app,” the department said in a statement. released on Saturday. .
The difference between the new guidance issued by the CCPA and the previous guidance from the Department of Consumer Affairs is that, in the meantime, the old Consumer Protection Act 1986 has been replaced by the Consumer Protection Act 2019. consumers, which came into force in July 2020. It created a new statutory body, namely the Central Authority for Consumer Protection, which was empowered by Parliament to deal with unfair commercial practices. Therefore, any violation of the guidelines will be considered seriously and appropriate action will be taken for unfair business practice and violation of consumer rights.