Dubai: Restaurants and coffee shops that are still levying service charges will face heavy penalties, a senior Ministry of Economy official told Gulf News on Sunday.
Fines could range from Dh5,000 to Dh100,000 and the authorities could even order closure of the outlet if there are repeated offences.
Some restaurants add a 5 per cent to 20 per cent service fee to the bill which has been described by the Ministry of Economy as illegal.
Last week, the Supreme Committee for Consumer Protection chaired by Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, said that under Consumer Protection law 24, 2006, restaurants that do not pay any government fees are not allowed to collect any service charges from customers.
Mohammad Ahmad Bin Abdul Aziz Al Shehi, Director General of the Ministry of Economy, said: "All restaurants across the UAE that don't pay any government fees should stop adding extra service charges to their bills, otherwise heavy fines and penalties will be imposed on them.
"The fines will range from Dh5,000 to Dh100,000 depending on the size of the outlet and type of violation and it might lead to the restaurant's or coffee shop's closure.
"Our aim is not to fine these restaurant and cafés," Al Shehi said. "However, we want them to cooperate with us and abide by the law to stop this illegal practice.
"We had a meeting with representatives of econ-omic development departments of all emirates giving them regulations stipulating procedures to apply a federal consumer protection law that prohibits restaurants from charging their customers additional service fees."
The department will monitor the prices and bills of restaurants and prevent any manipulation.
He said: "Before enforcing this law the ministry asked all economic dev-elopment departments to get the menu prices for all restaurants to control prices and prevent any outlets from increasing their prices once they cancel service charges.
"The economic development departments have already set up teams to inform the restaurants and cafés of the law and its consequences in case of violations."
Al Shehi said the law is effective and teams from economic development departments will start awareness campaigns about the consumer protection law by visiting all restaurants and cafés.
He added that after taking these procedures the department will take serious measures against offenders.
"After that if any complaint is filed against any restaurants, the ministry or economic development departments will immediately fine these outlets and might even end up closing them."
Customer rights questions answered
- Can customers refuse to pay services charges at these outlets?
Customers have the right to refuse to pay service charges at restaurants.
- Who to contact if a restaurant violates the guidelines:
Ministry of Economy or economic development departments in any emirate.
- Are there any hotline numbers?
Hotline of the Ministry of Economy (600 5225) or hotline of any economic development department.
- What can customers do if the restaurants call police, when they refuse to pay the service charges?
The Ministry of Economy advises customers to pay the service charge and file a complaint against the outlet to avoid any conflict between the two.
Do you know of any restaurants still enforcing a service charge? Have you or someone you know refused to pay the extra charges? Please add your comments below.
