From January 1 of next year, the rules of service in restaurants and cafes will change for tourists in Turkey: thanks to the new rules, tourists will be able to familiarize themselves with the price list and menu of the establishment in advance, and according to the idea, they should be free from unpleasant surprises in the form of fraudulent prices in the final check.
“Tariff documents and price lists will be placed in front of the entrance door and on tables in restaurants, restaurants, cafes, and similar workplaces that offer food and beverage delivery services so that consumers can easily see and read them,” explains the main change Turkish press
The relevant Regulation on Amendments to the Price Tags, prepared by the Ministry of Trade, is published in the Official Gazette. Official price lists, by this provision, must be posted at the workplace where the service is provided, as well as at the entrance to restaurants, restaurants, cafes, pastry shops, and similar places. Moreover, it should be installed in such a way that it can be easily seen and read by consumers.
“In the recent period, it was stated that the prices of goods and services offered by restaurants, cafes, and similar businesses have constantly been increasing, significantly exceeding the level of inflation and costs,” the ministry said, adding that the new measures are being introduced “to protect economic interests of consumers by fully and accurately informing them with the help of price lists and tariffs”
“The purpose of regulation is to inform consumers, protect their economic interests at the highest level, and prevent possible complaints by ensuring that consumers can see tariffs and price lists in places where food and drink services are offered and make a choice by comparing prices before entering to the workplace”, – quoted in the Turkish mass media.
That is, tourists will have an idea of how much they will take in a public catering establishment. They will also be able to compare prices and even avoid the popular fraud often encountered, especially in resort areas. This is a popular deception by cafe owners – menus with different prices, when invoices are issued at inflated prices, show a fake menu for confirmation. According to the new rules, tourists will be able to take a picture of the price at the entrance and have proof.
We remind you that price fraud is popular not only in Turkey. Usually, the prices in the most popular places make tourists “faint”. So in Venice, for four drinks – cola and three mugs of beer – and a few snacks, tourists received a shocking bill of about 70 euros at a restaurant in St. Mark’s Square, while one glass of cola cost 16 euros. It is easy to understand that after seeing such prices in advance, tourists would hardly sit down in this cafe (read here). In Greece, the DK Oyster restaurant on the beach of the island of Mykonos is already scandalously famous, which regularly “cheats” tourists for fantastic sums – so once a tourist receives a bill there for 700 euros, it is again impossible to get acquainted with the prices beforehand.