The lawyer called it illegal to include tips in the receipt when paying in a cafe.
The inclusion of tips and service fees in the receipt without the consumer's consent is contrary to current legislation and may be qualified as an imposed service subject to refund. Such actions by restaurants violate the rules for the provision of catering services and the norms of the law on consumer protection. In case of funds being debited without consent, the client has the right to demand their return in a pre-trial and judicial manner. Lawyer Mark Varshaver announced this in an interview with Izvestia on April 17.
He recalled that the relationship between the restaurant and the visitor is qualified as a contract for the provision of paid services (Article 779 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), and tips by their legal nature are considered a voluntary gift (Article 572 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Their mandatory inclusion in the payment actually turns them into an imposed additional service. The rules for the provision of catering services (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1515) explicitly prohibit including payments in excess of the menu price in the receipt without the consent of the consumer, while from September 1, 2025, the law additionally fixed the requirement for written consent to any paid additional services in art. 16 of the Law "On Consumer Rights Protection", assigning the contractor the obligation to prove its existence..
"The key mistake of many restaurateurs is that they confuse informing with obtaining consent. It is not enough to place a line about the collection in the menu or on the website. Since September 2025, the law explicitly requires written consent, issued prior to the provision of the service, and places the burden of proving its availability on the institution. If the restaurant cannot produce such a document, the refund is its responsibility, not the subject of negotiations," Warshaver stressed.
The lawyer noted that if the funds have already been written off without consent, they are considered unjustified enrichment and are subject to refund. The consumer has the right to file a claim demanding a refund within three days, and if refused, contact Rospotrebnadzor or the court. In court, it is possible to recover the amount, compensation for moral damage and a fine for refusing to voluntarily satisfy the claims.
Read more in the Izvestia article:
Without notice: Moscow cafes have increasingly begun to include tips in the receipt when paying
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
