Bengaluru: Hotels and restaurants in Karnataka will soon be making service charge voluntary. According to sources, the charge won't be added in the bills anymore.

"The government is acting on guidelines issued recently by the Centre", said Food and Civil Supplies Minister U T Khader, in a press conference on 25th April, Tuesday.

The Centre has stated that the service charge, referred as 'tips' in restaurants must remain voluntary.

Khader assured that he would meet the hotel owners' association and a notice would be issued to them. "The hotels and restaurants won't be able to deny entry to consumers who refuse to pay service charge.Consumers who find violations can file complaints with the consumer courts", he said.

Most restaurants charge 6% to 8% service charge in bills and most of the consumers are unaware of it.

"Random inspections will be conducted by food inspectors and legal metrology officials", he added.