The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the affairs of the Sri Venkateswara temple atop Tirumala, has warned hotels to cut down their prices and implement the fixed rate norm.
Following a High Court order on the matter from earlier this week, the TTD said that it had released a 'price list', that was not being followed by hotels in the hill town.
The Deccan Chronicle reported that a meeting was held with the owners of the hotels in Tirumala, where they were given instructions to follow the price list, and warned of action if the norm was not adhered to.
“The new price list will be updated in the tender which may be floated by month-end,” JEO KS Srinivasa Raju was quoted as saying.
Earlier this week, the combined High Court of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in Hyderabad, ordered the TTD to rationalise the price structure of various food items being sold at eateries in the temple town.
The irked court pointed out that some hotels were over-charging massively for some items, and asked the TTD authorities if they were working with the shop owners to loot devotees.
The TTD EO's counsel informed the court that a fine of about Rs 21 lakh was imposed on erring hoteliers as of October 28, following which the court adjourned the case to November 14, and asked for further details on the violators and the fines that they paid.
Last month, the court directed the EO of the TTD to appear before the court in a week, and file an action taken report on the court's previous order.
The counsel for the TTD said that they had imposed a fine on erring hoteliers, but that did not satisfy the court.
“You have said that you imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on such hoteliers. What impact will it have if their daily income itself is more than Rs 50,000. They will pay the penalty and continue their irregularities...The EO thinks he is above law. Hence, let him come and assist this court," the bench was quoted as saying.