Service charge: Restaurants, Coffee shops given grace period

Abu Dhabi: Restaurants and coffee shops have until the end of this month to do away with service charges, a senior Ministry of Economy official said on Monday.

Exempted from this rule are restaurants located in hotels.

Hashim Al Nuaimi, head of Consumer Protection Department at the ministry told the local Arabic daily Al Ittihad that starting February, erring restaurants and coffee shops will be issued fines, followed by closure and then referred to a special court. These food outlets are given a grace period until the end of January to do away with service charges.

The fines will range from Dh5,000 to Dh100,000 depending on the size of the outlet and type of violation.

Al Nuaimi said that the ministry will at the same time run a check on the current prices charged by restaurants and cafes so as to compare it with the prices after the service charges are taken off. This is done to counter any possible manipulations in prices from restaurants and cafes.

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.