Hyderabad: A pinch of salt is chargeable literally. A new plush restaurant cum-bar charged a customer for the extra salt he requested. Avinash Sethi (name changed) was dining out with his family when he asked for some salt for the lime soda. Little did he realise that it would be added in the bill.
On Tuesday, when he got the bill, he noticed that Rs 1 was attributed for the extra salt. The restaurant, whose headquarters located on Raj Bhawan Road in Somajiguda, had opened its doors recently. The law permits restaurants to decide what items are chargeable and rate them.
The legal department said since salt was served in loose form, there would be no legal action against the restaurant, as it did not come under the purview of the Packaged Goods and Commodities Act.
“We get complaints from customers about over charging and we take action against the violators. But for something like salt served loose and charged, there is nothing that we can do,” said Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy from the department.
Meanwhile, the restaurant is embarrassed about the goof-up. A spokesperson for the restaurant said, “The whole episode was just an accident. A new software was installed recently and cashiers are getting used to it. Since it was one of the last bills made at 11 pm, waiters failed to check it. We regret it.”
Later, the restaurant offered to pay back the customer a sum of Rs 150 which is the price of the lime soda. But the Sethis declined it.
