KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court (SC) has given orders to the hotels and restaurants to not collect service charges from customers.

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

But the Supreme Court on Thursday said that the spirit and purpose of Article 44 and Article 115 (1) of the Constitution were not compatible and declared those provisions of the Labor Act and Regulations to be invalid and null and void with effect from January 25.

On Wednesday, the Constitutional Bench of Acting Chief Justice Harikrishna Karki, Justices Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha, Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada, Anand Mohan Bhattarai and Anil Kumar Sinha passed the verdict on the petition filed by Prem Lal Maharjan on June 6, 2018 demanding cancellation of service charge.