Businesses sanctioned for illegal collection of tips

94 restaurants and hotels have been sanctioned since August of 2016 for automatically charging gratuity. The fines total  $47,000 according to the Authority of Consumer Protection and Defense of Competition (Acodeco).

According to an amendment made 9 months ago, of article 56 of Law 45 (2007), gratuity should be a voluntary payment from the consumer for the service received, and not mandatory.

The general administrator of the Acodeco, Óscar García Cardoze , stated that "at the end of the transaction consider whether the service was good or not, consumers have the last word on the payment of the gratuity or not."