Soon, restaurants and other places in California will not be able to charge hidden fees and taxes. Thanks to the Senate Bill 478, also known as the “Consumer Legal Remedies Act.
Every business has to follow the new state law starting July 1.
Because of a new rule in California, restaurants will not be able to add extra fees or other charges to customers’ bills. This includes extra fees that you might not know about when you buy things online, like event tickets or hotel rooms, as well as food delivery fees and restaurant surcharges.
The California Department of Justice told The San Francisco Chronicle that the law’s goal is to make sure that customers know what they are going to pay. “and says that the price for a good or service must include the full amount that a customer must pay for it.”
The head of the California Restaurant Association, Jot Condie, told KCRA 3 that the bill was sold as a way to clarify the law without making it the law of more places. It’s too bad that the attorney general seems to have bigger plans for this law than the lawmakers who wrote and passed it.
Some companies in Sacramento are worried about how it will affect the economy.
The bar manager at The Shady Lady Saloon, Chad Brown, said that it will be harder for business owners to make up for that money in an already tough market.
The bill says that the goal of this rule is to stop “junk” fees and “drip pricing,” which is when a customer sees a price for a product or service that is lower than what they actually pay for it. Businesses have used this strategy to get more customers by making themselves look like the cheapest choice compared to others in the same field.
