Restaurant bill format

A restaurant bill is a tax invoice for food and drinks served at the table, packed for takeaway or delivered. Food served by a restaurant is a service under GST, not a sale of goods, so the whole bill usually carries one rate under SAC 996331, whatever the dishes are. The bill typically shows the table, number of guests, the kitchen order tickets (KOTs) that made it up, and any service charge.

Behind the bill are the KOTs: each order sent to the kitchen is a numbered ticket, and the bill brings them together at the end. Matching KOTs to bills is the simplest check against food going out unbilled, and it lets the kitchen see what a table has already had.

When to use it

• Dine-in, takeaway and own delivery from restaurants, cafés, dhabas and canteens.
• Bakeries and sweet shops that also serve food at tables.
• Outdoor catering bills, which follow similar rules.
• Orders through food apps are billed differently: the app pays the GST on those.

Restaurant service outside “specified premises” is taxed at 5% without input tax credit (Notification 11/2017-Central Tax (Rate), entry 7(ii)). Restaurants in hotels whose rooms are priced above ₹7,500 a night (specified premises) charge 18% with credit. AC or non-AC no longer matters. For orders through food delivery apps, the app collects and pays the GST (section 9(5)).

Service charge cannot be added by default: the Central Consumer Protection Authority's 2022 guidelines say it is voluntary. If a customer chooses to pay it, it is part of the value and GST applies to it.