Minimum spend, cover charge, corkage, bread, water and "table service": can a restaurant in Peru charge you for them?

The basic rule: nothing billed separately from the price

The page on your rights at restaurants, bars and cafés covers the general rules. This page deals with the charges that cause the most arguments over the bill. Four articles of the Consumer Code settle them.

The first is article 5.3:

«Los establecimientos que expenden comidas y bebidas y los servicios de hospedaje y hostelería están obligados a colocar sus listas de precios en el exterior, de forma accesible y visible para consulta del consumidor. En estos servicios está prohibido el cobro de montos adicionales por cualquier tipo de concepto o recargo de manera disgregada al precio final, con excepción del recargo al consumo por concepto de servicio de los trabajadores previsto en norma especial, en cuyo caso debe informarse al consumidor de manera oportuna, accesible y visible.»

(Places that sell food and drink, and lodging, must post their price lists outside, accessible and visible. They may not charge extra amounts, for any reason, separately from the final price. The only exception is the staff service charge set by a special law, which must be disclosed in a timely, accessible and visible way.)

What this means for you: the price of the dish is the price. The only thing that can go on top is the service charge (recargo al consumo), and only if you were told in advance.

Article 4.1 says the same thing from another angle: the displayed price must be the “precio total” (total price), including “los tributos, comisiones y cargos aplicables” (applicable taxes, fees and charges).

“Table service”, cover per person and bread per person

A fixed charge for sitting down, for cutlery or for bread, billed whether you want it or not, is in practice an amount separate from the price of the dishes. That is what article 5.3 bans.

If the menu offers bread or water as optional items with a price, and you order them, that is different: you pay for something you ordered.

Bread, water or starters you did not order

Here article 56.1 b applies. It is banned to:

«Obligar al consumidor a asumir prestaciones que no ha pactado o a efectuar pagos por productos o servicios que no han sido requeridos previamente. En ningún caso puede interpretarse el silencio del consumidor como aceptación de dichas prestaciones o pagos, salvo que lo haya autorizado previamente de manera expresa.»

(Forcing consumers to take on services they did not agree to, or to pay for products or services they did not request beforehand. Silence can never be read as acceptance, unless the consumer expressly authorized it in advance.)

What this means for you: if bread, water or a starter was put on your table without you asking, and nobody said it cost extra, you do not have to pay for it. Eating it without saying anything is not acceptance: the law says so directly.

The simplest move on the spot: ask “does this cost extra?”. If they say yes and you do not want it, send it back.

Corkage and cover charges: separate services

Article 4.2 allows separate charges only for “servicios distintos o adicionales” (separate or additional services), and on conditions:

«Esta posibilidad debe ser informada de manera previa, adecuada y oportuna al consumidor, incluyendo el precio correspondiente a los recargos adicionales que puedan ser determinables por el proveedor, y aceptada expresamente por el consumidor. La carga de probar ello corresponde al proveedor.»

(This must be disclosed to the consumer in advance, properly and in good time, including the price of the extra charge, and expressly accepted by the consumer. The business must prove this.)

No rule we read names corkage or cover charges. Our reading:

• Corkage. Opening and serving a bottle you brought is a service separate from what the menu sells. It can be charged if you were told the price first and accepted it. We found no rule setting a cap.
• Cover charge. Entry to the venue or a show is a service separate from food and drink. If you pay at the door knowing the amount, the condition is met. If it appears only on the bill, it is not.

In both cases, if there is a dispute, the business must prove it told you and that you accepted. That is the last sentence of article 4.2.

Minimum spend

No rule we read names this either. What does apply is the duty to inform in article 2: the business must give you “toda la información relevante para tomar una decisión” (all the information relevant to a decision), and that information must be “oportuna y fácilmente accesible” (timely and easily accessible).

Our reading:

• If you were told about the minimum spend before you sat down (at the door, on the menu or when booking), it is a condition you knew and accepted.
• If you are told only when you ask for the bill, you were not informed in time. And charging you the shortfall as a separate line (“minimum spend: S/ …”) clashes with the ban on separate charges in article 5.3.

If the minimum spend was a condition for a promotion, the rules are in promotions, happy hour and 2x1 deals.

What to do with the bill in your hand

1. Ask them to remove the charge and say why: “I did not order it” (article 56.1 b), “I was not told in advance” (articles 2 and 4.2) or “it is a charge separate from the price” (article 5.3).
2. If they refuse, pay for what you did have, ask for the receipt and note the disputed charge.
3. Write it in the complaints book.
4. If there is no answer, or the answer does not help, you can take it to Indecopi.

What this page does not cover

We found no rule or official Indecopi guide that deals by name with minimum spends, cover charges or corkage, and we did not review Indecopi decisions on those charges. We also do not cover municipal rules for nightclubs and shows, or the fines a business could face. The service charge and tips have their own pages.