Food and beverage establishments that charge for ice, glasses of water and the use of crockery can do so as long as it is posted near the entrance, to inform customers, AHRESP told Lusa.
“Restaurant and beverage establishments may define, as internal operating rules, the charging of a fee for the use of tableware or other situations that are defined. However, these internal operating rules must be duly publicised, as well as posted in a prominent place, near the entrance of the establishments, in order to conveniently inform customers”, explained the general secretary of the Association of hotels, restaurants and similar from Portugal (AHRESP), Ana Jacinto, in a written response to Lusa.
According to several reports made to Lusa, there are restaurants that are charging for the use of crockery when, for example, at a birthday dinner, customers take the cake and use dishes from the establishment, as well as for ice, or glasses of water.
“It is also permitted to charge a fee for the provision of ice or glasses of water, as long as this information is duly identified and defined in the establishment’s price list, and this must be made available near the entrance and inside the establishments”, he explained. to AHRESP.
The association also recalled that, since July 2021, hotel, restaurant, cafeteria and ‘catering’ establishments are obliged to keep available to customers a container with tap water and sanitized glasses for consumption on site, free of charge or at a lower cost than the packaged water provided by establishments.
“If the establishment intends to charge for glasses of water, it must do so at a lower cost than that charged for packaged water that is also available for consumption in the establishment”, said Ana Jacinto, adding that these values must be duly identified on the invoice, in the terms of the VAT Code.