On October 14, 2017, Manisha Banavalikar had visited Mini Punjab's lakeside restaurant with her family and received a bill of Rs2,124. She was allegedly insulted when she refused to pay the service tax.
(Photo: Rajesh Gupta)
A well-known Powai eatery was recently asked to pay Rs10,165 to a customer for charging service tax and GST on a meal, when she visited the restaurant two years ago.
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On October 14, 2017, Manisha Banavalikar had visited Mini Punjab's lakeside restaurant with her family and received a bill of Rs2,124. She was allegedly insulted when she refused to pay the service tax.
"It was a weekend so we decided to have dinner at the restaurant. But when the bill arrived, I found that Rs 326.70 was GST and Rs 165 service tax, " Manisha told mid-day.
She said when she asked the manager about the two different charges, he refused to deduct the service charge and allegedly said, "If you cannot afford such a hotel, then don't come here again."
She then registered a case in the District Consumer Dispute Redressal forum in Mumbai. Advocate Amit Pai, who represented Banavalikar said, "It was not a matter of Rs165. It was against the taxation and was also malpractice by the hotel. When we took the matter to the redressal forum, the hotel did not even take us seriously."
Sanjeev Bhuyan, manager of the restaurant claimed the customer was asking Rs 5 lakh compensation so they were awaiting the judgment.
The restaurant denied all allegations made by Banavalikar, but the forum said the hotel and its management was indulging in malpractice.
The forum observed that, when the restaurant had charged 18% GST over the food bill, they were not supposed to charge service tax, which is 10% on the food bill as service tax is part of GST. The forum also directed the restaurant and its management to pay Rs165 which was charged, Rs5,000 rupees as compensation to complainant and Rs5,000 as expenses towards legal aid.
"We will obey the judgment and pay the amount to the complainant," said Bhuyan.
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