Taj Mahal Hotel fined Rs 2,000 for denying plain water free of charge

HYDERABAD: Taj Mahal Hotel was ordered by Telangana Consumer Court to refund Rupees Nine towards the cost of a water bottle purchased by the complainant, as the hotel do not supply free drinking water to the customers who visit their hotel. The hotel was also asked to pay a compensation of Rs 2,000 to the complainant.

Suri Sravan Kumar, an advocate, claimed that he had visited the hotel and requested for plain water.

He further said that the staff had informed him that they had stopped supplying glass of water and asked the complainant to purchase a water bottle, instead.

The complainant said that the restaurants usually would enquire the customers about their choice of water (plain water or bottled water) but the complainant, in this case, having no choice was forced to purchase a water bottle. Thus, alleging deficiency of service and unfair trade practice the complainant filed the complaint seeking justice.

Taj Mahal Hotel, defending itself, said that the complaint was not maintainable in the eye of the law as there was no rule regarding the issue in Consumer Protection Act, 2019. They further said that they had priorly informed the customer about the rules regarding serving of plain water and the complainant had made a choice to go ahead and purchase the bottled water. Denying the allegations, the hotel sought the dismissal of the case.

The court, hearing both parties, said that no hotel could force their customer to purchase bottled water and deny serving plain water free of charge. The court further said that the complaint would benefit the public at large and ordered the hotel to serve plain drinking water free of charge for its customers.