🔆The legality of mandatory service charges in restaurants remains under judicial scrutiny in India. ✅Restaurants add a service charge—5% to 20% of the bill—to bill. This charge, unlike a tip (voluntarily given for good service), appears automatically on the bill, whether a person is happy with the service or not. ✅The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), a government body protecting consumer rights, says this practice is unfair. ✅The CCPA argues that mandatory charges violate the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, while restaurants say they have the right to set prices under the Constitution’s Article 19(1)(g) (freedom to trade). ✅In July 2022, the CCPA issued guidelines banning restaurants from adding service charges by default. ✅March 28, 2025, Ruling: Court upholding the CCPA’s 2022 guidelines. The court rules that: ✅Service charges are voluntary, not mandatory. ✅Forcing customers to pay is an unfair trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.