Supreme court overturn decision of 10 pc service tax charged by hotels and restaurants

Kathmandu: The Supreme Court has decided that hotels and restaurants cannot levy service charge to customers.

Hotels and restaurants have been charging an additional 10 percent service fee from customers based on the provisions of Section 87 (3) of the Labor Act 2074 BS and Rule 82 of the Labor Code 2075 BS.

But the Supreme Court today said that the purpose of Article 44 and Article 115 (1) of the Constitution is not compatible and declared those provisions of the Labor Act and Regulations to be invalid and null and void with effect from January 26th.

On Wednesday, the Constitutional Bench of Chief Justice Harikrishna Karki, Justices Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha, Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada, Anand Mohan Bhattarai and Anil Kumar Sinha gave a verdict on the writ filed by Premlal Maharjan.