The Kozhikode Municipal Corporation will seek explanation from the management of House of Sparrows, a restaurant on Gujarati Street in Kozhikode, for not displaying the price list in all tables.
The issue surfaced after a Kozhikode-based advocate, M.P. Sreejith, posted on Facebook about the exorbitant rate charged for a black tea at the restaurant.
Mr. Sreejith alleged that the restaurant charged ₹92 for two black teas, including GST, and failed to produce a valid computerised bill.
The restaurant had later come up with an explanation that the rate was also for the ambiance provided and that the bill was handwritten only because their computer was out of order.
When contacted, Health Officer of the Corporation R.S. Gopakumar said the Corporation had no right to take action on any restaurant on such issues, but was planning to serve a notice on the restaurant for not displaying the menu card for every one to see, or on every table.
On the other hand, it was up to the GST Department to take action on the matter of the bill.
The restaurant had allegedly not mentioned its name on the bill, nor the GST ID, but had charged the customer around ₹12 for GST.
The Facebook post by Mr. Sreejith had triggered a discussion online regarding the pricing of food items in some restaurants in the city, especially the ones on the Kozhikode Beach.
Meanwhile, the Kozhikode District Consumer Protection Committee has alleged that the Food Advisory Committee in the district was dysfunctional.
The committee, which needs to hold meeting every month under the District Collector, has not been convened in the past five months.
