Bollywood actor Rahul Bose made headlines over the past few days after he tweeted a video of him being charged a whopping Rs 442 by JW Marriott in Chandigarh for just two bananas which the hotel termed as a fruit platter.
The video went viral and the high-end hotel was shamed from all corners. The video also drew the attention of Chandigarh's Deputy Commissioner and Excise and Taxation Commissioner Mandip Singh Brar who ordered a probe against JW Marriott. They were fined Rs 25,000.
In the bill, it was noticed that Bose was charged Rs 33 for CGST and SGST each. GST experts have said that fresh fruits do not come under the tax slab.
The high-end hotel was massively trolled for charging so much for just two bananas and Taj Santacruz also joined the fun.
Meanwhile, in the land of trolling JW Marriott.... pic.twitter.com/ipGEZILQ4s
— Deepak Shenoy (@deepakshenoy) July 25, 2019
A patron of the hotel recently tweeted an image at the hotel of a notice reading, "We would be delighted to serve seasonal fresh whole fruits with our compliments." This notice was taking a dig at JW Marriott by saying that the fruits would be complimentary throwing shade at the other hotel.
Twitter couldn't help noticing how Taj positioned themselves and also complimented the hotel's marketing team for using the opportunity to portray themselves in a good light.
Well played Taj?
— atul sharma (@atulysharma) July 26, 2019
Do not order Bananas please ??
— Swayam Mangwani (@Swayam989) July 25, 2019
Service might got Taxed. @300 +18% GST
— vj (@jha_vj) July 26, 2019
Rest is 4Quality a pair of Fresh banana which is rich source of iron !????
Maze karo
LoL?
— ?????? (@janishm) July 26, 2019
Another amusing part of the whole thing is that #JWMarriott levied 18% GST on the bananas, while fruits, vegetables and other essentials in raw form are exempt from the same.