Hotels are asking for a price which is several times higher than the MRP! But we have never tried to go to the root of the issue. Are these restaurants and hotels flaunting rules?
From where are they deriving strength in flaunting government’s rule? What does the government’s rule actually say? Is there a court verdict around it? Amidst all the chaos related to GST, where the restaurant and cafe owners felt cheated and ignored the recent verdict by the Supreme Court on the sale of bottled drinking water above the MRP is definitely a wave of relief.
In fact, there have been so many arguments and counter-arguments around this that as customers we are confused.
The sale of bottled drinking water above the MRP has been a subject of intense debate since 2003 when the Hotels and Restaurant Association of India approached the Delhi High Court challenging penal provisions of the law. Later, the high court ruled in 2007 that Delhi’s hotels and restaurants cannot sell bottled mineral water above the MRP.
The government had earlier said, “Sale of packaged water over MRP by hotels and restaurants may have implications regarding tax evasion as a bottle purchased by a hotel at cost price, which should be sold at MRP or less, is being sold at much higher prices, leading to possible loss of additional revenue to the government in the form of service tax or excise duty.”
The recent hearing by the bench headed by Justice Rohinton Nariman said the provisions of the law will not apply to hotels and restaurants, and these establishments cannot be prosecuted for selling such items above the MRP.
The report says, “It is not a case of simple sale. Nobody goes to a hotel to buy or take away a bottle of mineral water. It may be the case that a client would order nothing beyond a bottle of water or a beverage, but his visit to experience the ambiance involves a whole lot of other services that go with being served in hotels and restaurants.
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