Café bills customers for phone charging

An Austrian restaurateur — weary of getting a jolt on her electricity bill from patrons charging their laptops and smartphones at her café — has started slapping offenders with a user fee. The practice came to light after a visitor to the café in Vienna noticed an extra charge for “electricity” on her bill for four glasses of spritzer — and posted the image on social media. The café manager told the Kurier newspaper that she adds one euro to the bill of guests who sap her energy supply for longer than two hours. “Every day, I get a crowd of tourists who are charging their phones, cameras and tablets,” she explained, adding that she informs customers of the new rule. The café is located at the celebrated Hundertwasserhaus, one of Vienna’s most visited buildings and an architectural marvel that bears the unmistakable imprint of the artist for whom it is named, Friedensreich Hundertwasser.