Jiangsu Province Restaurant Adds Clean Air Fee To Diners' Bills (Covers Cost Of Air Filter System)

The pollution in China is so bad, a restaurant started putting a surcharge on top of customers’ food bills as an “air cleaning fee”.

A restaurant in Zhangjiagang city, in the Jiangsu Province , recently purchased “air filtration machines” following reports of dangerously high pollution levels in the country.

Patrons who dined in the restaurant were unknowingly about to pay for the operational costs, and only found out when they were handed the bill at the end of their meals, according to the South China Morning Post.

A charge of one yuan per customer was added to the food bill, about 10p or $0.15. Customers complained to the local government, who ordered the restaurants owners to halt the illegal charge. A city official told Xinhua news agency that it was not the diners’ choice to breathe filtered air and therefore it could not be sold as a commodity.

EDIT

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-pollution-beijing-restaurant-starts-capitalising-on-pollution-by-charging-customers-for-clean-a6772661.html