From January 1, 2021, catering establishments are not entitled to include additional payments, commissions or tips in the check, in addition to the cost of ordered dishes according to the menu.

The relevant items included the "Rules for the provision of catering services" approved by the Russian government.

As Rospotrebnadzor clarifies, the new rules are aimed at protecting the rights of consumers of public catering services.

“Any payments that do not relate to the cost of the ordered dishes and selected services cannot be added to the order (payments, commissions, surcharges, tips and others).

This approach should exclude the practice of misleading consumers about the real costs of providing these services, ”the department noted.

At the same time, the new rules provide for the possibility of offering the consumer additional services, which can be reimbursable or gratuitous.

“Such services can be chosen by the consumer voluntarily on the basis of familiarization with their consumer properties and price.

The consumer has the right to refuse to pay for such additional services (costs), and if they are paid, to demand from the contractor the return of the amount paid, ”the Rospotrebnadzor said.

Along with this, the rules establish the required amount of information that needs to be conveyed to the consumer.

We are talking about the list of services and the conditions for their provision, the name of the product indicating the methods of cooking and the main ingredients included in them, information about the volume and weight of ready-made meals, as well as their nutritional value.

It became known about the readiness of the document in mid-July after it was posted on the federal portal of draft regulatory legal acts.

In the explanatory note to the project, it was indicated that the rules were developed to replace the previous by-laws approved in August 1997, which will cease to be effective from January 1, 2021.

Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, Industry, Innovative Development and Entrepreneurship Vladimir Gutenyov believes that the ban on the inclusion of additional services in checks is the right step that will save Russians from having to pay significant amounts for imposed services.

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“It seems to me that very often this or that person, especially if it is a young man who invited a girl, seeing an extra amount in the invoice, which sometimes amounts to 10%, or even 15%, will feel awkward, and the waiter will experience an excessive sense of joy.

And therefore, I believe that the more transparency there is, the more comfortable our citizens will feel, ”the parliamentarian said in an interview with RT.

Gutenev noted that in those cases when a person wanted to express material gratitude to the staff of the institution, he would do it anyway.

But this should happen voluntarily, the deputy stressed.

Community activists also supported a ban on restaurants including tips in a check.

The chairman of the National Union for the Protection of Consumer Rights, Pavel Shapkin, in an interview with RT, called the inclusion of a tip in a check "cheating."

“It’s just a gimmick by the consumer when the tip is included in the bill.

Thus, you can generally take anything and come up with anything ... In principle, all this fits under Art.

14.7 of the Administrative Code "Consumer fraud".

That is, this is simply a deliberate shortfall and it threatens in general with a liability of 100 thousand rubles for violators.

If this is additionally clarified, then this is not bad, ”Shapkin emphasized.

He noted that one should always remind business representatives who sell or provide services that "there are consumer rights and they should not be violated."

Shapkin added that the ban should not only be established, but should "entail some legal consequences."

The chairman of the Union of Consumers of Russia Pyotr Shelishch, in turn, believes that we are talking about bringing the situation in line with civil law.

“I was surprised that the concept of“ tip ”appeared, which is not defined anywhere in the legislation, but, nevertheless, everyone understands what this is about.

This is a kind of reward for the quality of service, and it is clear that reward for the quality of service can only be voluntary, it cannot be forced, "the expert said in an interview with RT.