A bottle of mineral water for Rs 20; a cold drink and a pack of cigarette for Rs 50: all is fair as far as the hotel and restaurant industry goes, thanks to a recent Delhi high court order which has given a go-ahead to them to charge more than the maximum retail price.
The high court has stayed the order of the centre on MRP and allowed hotels to charge more than the MRP. Major hotel and restaurant chains had appealed to the court earlier this year, complaining about the Centre's move to enforce a ban on charging more than the MRP.
"We have been able to obtain a stay order from Delhi high court on our writ petition on selling packaged products like bottled water, soft drinks, cigarette and other packages in hotel and prices at prices not higher than the MRP," says Shyam Suri, secretary general, Federation of Restaurant and Hotels Association of India.
The FHRAI had filed a writ petition in the Delhi high court in which it had said that the Rule 23(2) of the Weights and Measures Rules, 1997 does not apply to hotels and restaurants.
The rule says that retailers, wholesalers and others will not sell any packaged product at a price higher than MRP.
"The association had also applied for a stay, restraining the two respondents, secretary, department of consumer affairs and controller of weights and measures, Delhi government from applying the MRP rule to hotels and restaurants. The court has also passed the stay order against the respondents in favour of the petitioner, the FHRAI," says Suri.
"It is essential to charge more than the MRP as we have to take into account the service and other infrastructural charges. There is no other way but to charge the consumers for the service we are giving them," says Sunil Anand, a hotelier.
Moreover, there is lot of difference in having a soft drink at a roadside stall and a five-star hotel: the service, the air-conditioning, the ambience, all has to be accounted for in the charges, says Anand.
"A hotel or a restaurant obviously cannot sell packaged products at prices similar to retail establishments because of the service which comes along and also the infrastructure which goes into preserving these eatables. Customers have never complained and they are willing to pay for the services we provide," he says.
The hotel and restaurant industry started facing problems on the MRP issue after the centre decided to enforce a ban on charging more than the MRP for the packaged food.
Since selling packaged food is a big money-spinner, those in the industry say, the hoteliers had started demanding that they be allowed to levy additional charges over and above the MRP, in the name of "premium services and facilities."
The Weights and Measures Rule defined that no retail dealer or other person could sell packaged products at a price more than the MRP, and according to government interpretation, hotels and restaurants come under the category of 'other person.'
The hotels were before the last year's order exempted from charging according to MRP and could levy additional charges for services.
But once the Centre's order came, the weights and measures officials in some states started inspecting and even fining hotels, which prompted the industry to move court, says an official of FHRAI.
Meanwhile, consumers say after the court order, most restaurants have revised their rate list and are charging much more than what they were a year back.
Explains Anand, "There is going to be some difference in rates of five-star, two-star and small restaurants. Everyone is going to charge according to the service they are providing."
So you could still hope to get a soft drink for Rs 15 at your locality restaurant, but the five-star joint is sure to charge you Rs 50 for it.