Service Fees

[Anchor Lead]

When paying your bill at hotels, the charge not only includes taxes but also what's called a service fee. Following public complaints over tipping charge in 1979, the then Transport Ministry issued an administrative order to collect "service fees" instead. This practice has continued for 40 years. The National Assembly Research Service has assessed that it's not right to charge the fee citing the absence of any legal basis.

[Pkg]

A meal is ordered at a five-star hotel. There is no complimentary service, other than some bread served as appetizer and water being poured. However the bill shows the cost of the meal, tax and then a 10 percent service fee. Some hotels say they don't charge such service fees.

[Soundbite] (Official at one of these hotels(voice altered)) : "We believe good service is a given and we do not include those charges."

Hotels that do indicate a service charge in their receipts are those that have been around for many years. Foreign branded hotels that have recently opened or newly renovated hotels do not charge this particular fee. However it wasn't what they said when KBS tried to book a hotel room through an online reservation site. This hotel is known not to charge service fees. But the final bill shows a service charge has been included. On news of KBS coverage, the reservation site removed the service charge item, saying it was a processing blunder. The Fair Trade Commission considers the service charge as deceiving to consumers but is not taking any particular measures against it. Meanwhile the National Assembly Research Service has issued an opinion that it's not right to charge the fees without any legal basis and which only confuse consumers. The service said that charging the fees customarily due to an administrative order that lacks legal foundation is a violation of consumer rights. Related consumer complaints continue to increase, numbering some 13-thousand last year, and ten-thousand in this year's first half alone.