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I am staying in a hotel room, and the in-room minibar has some chocolate bars in their wrappers, with the MRP printed, and the bars themselves are not wrapped in any way, nor are they part of a "hamper". Is it legal for the hotel to charge FIVE TIMES the MRP for each bar?

I am aware of the ruling about water bottles in restaurants (https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/supreme-court-allows-restaurants-charge-above-mrp-bottled-water/story/265891.html) but in this case the hotel is providing the exact same product, with no other service attached, and with no attempt to increase the value of the product.

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The hotel provides the minibar, and the service of keeping it filled. They provide the service of being able to eat the food without leaving your room, and let you pay much later with your bill. And they are not a retail store, so rules for retail stores don’t apply.

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  • Is this answer just based on general principle, or on a specific knowledge of Indian consumer law? – Nate Eldredge May 24 at 22:54
  • @gnasher729? Of course, they can charge a convince fee or a service charge. But 24 hour supermarkets cannot increase the price of the products if you come in at, say, 1 am, even though they provide the convenience of selling at odd hours so the same logic should apply to Hotels. – Kartik Soneji May 25 at 8:17

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