A Vienna cafe, located at the historic Hundertwasser House, is now charging customers an extra Euro on their bills if they've plugged in a phone or tablet.
It drew some angry protests on Facebook when a customer complained, but it's apparently legal, as long as the customer is notified.
The cafe manager told the newspaper Kurier that she usually waives the charge, but “if a guest uses our energy supply for longer than two hours, then I add a euro to their bill. Every day I get a crowd of tourists who are charging their phones, cameras and tablets.” The customer who complained had been there for 4 hours, and had ordered 4 wine spritzers.
It's been estimated that the cost of keeping a phone charged for a year is about $1.25 and for a tablet about $4.35.
Another estimate puts the cost of 1000 litres of Vienna's tap water at about $2, but the Chamber of Commerce estimates that about 20% of Vienna's cafes are now charging for that, too, even when the customer has also ordered coffee or wine.
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