Hyderabad: Four Restaurants Booked For Dual Pricing, Levying GST Over MRP

Four restaurants in Hyderabad were booked by the Legal Metrology Department for charging more than the MRP.

‘Pista House Restaurant’, Nizampet; ‘Sangeetha A Lounge Restaurant & Bar’, ‘Chaitanya Bar & Family Restaurant’, Kukatpally; and ‘Hotel Kuchipudi Palav Restaurant’, Miyapur are the four restaurants booked under the Legal Metrology Act. for selling commodities above Maximum Retail Price (MRP).

The complaint against the restaurants was filed by social activist K Sai Teja, who is the head of social media and public relation at Forum Against Corruption, a city-based activists group. All these complaints were filed between May and July this year.

Violation Of Legal Metrology Act

In his complaint against the Pista House Restaurant Sai Teja said that for a 300 ml soft drink glass bottle, which is originally priced at Rs 25, customers are being charged Rs 40. On this price, additional GST was also being levied. Apart from that, the net quantity of the soft drink was not mentioned. This was in violation of Section 12 (2) and 6 (1) (C) of the act.

‘Sangeetha A Lounge’ was charging Rs 30 for a 300 ml Kinley Soda bottle while the original price is Rs 12. Same was the case with ‘Chaitanya’ which charged extra, while also levying a GST.

Hotel Kuchipudi Palav Restaurant was charging Rs 35 for a 250 ml soft drink bottle, originally priced Rs 25.

While speaking to The Logical Indian, Mr Teja, “Many of these restaurant owners trying to traverse the law by citing the Supreme Court ruling which allows them to sell water/aerated drinks over MRP. However, the ruling also said that in that case, the bottle should clearly indicate that it is ‘not for retail sale’. These could not be used for commercial or trade purposes.”

Reportedly, the hotels could be fined Rs 25,000 for the first offence and up to Rs 50,000 for the second offence.

Also Read: Karnataka: Malls, Restaurants Raided On Complaints Of Overcharging For Water Bottles