Hotels get Supreme Court nod to charge more for packaged drinking water

The apex court's judgement was based on the special leave petition filed by the FHRAI, which argued that the definition of sale in both the new and old acts was the same. Image source: IANS

The Supreme Court has allowed restaurants and hotels to sell bottled water and other packaged product at above the maximum retail price as reported by ET.

The apex court said that they also render a service and cannot be governed by the Legal Metrology Act.

ET reported that, in a judgement passed on Tuesday on a special leave petition filed by the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India against the Union of India, the SC said when hotels and restaurants sell food and drinks, they also render a service, making it a composite transaction with composite billing and MRP rates cannot be insisted upon for such entities.

The apex court's judgement was based on the special leave petition filed by the FHRAI, which argued that the definition of sale in both the new and old acts was the same.

The government in its affidavit against FHRAI had said that charging more than the MRP for pre-packaged or pre-packed products in hotels and restaurants was an offence under the Legal Metrology Act.

Earlier, the FHRAI had filed a petition in the Delhi High Court, challenging notices issued to them.

According to ET, the government filed an appeal in the division bench of the court, after which the Standards of Weights and Measures Act was repealed by the Legal Metrology Act in 2010.

The court then disposed of the matter and said the parties could examine if the new act was being implemented in the wrong manner.

The earlier stay on the MRP issue became redundant after the Act changed.