Regional authorities have approved a law that will put an end to the bread and cover charge (pane e coperto) added to bills in many bars and restaurants in Lazio. The charge, usually amounting to around 1.50, is made if you sit at a table (whether or not you eat the bread). Although not all of Lazios 11,255 restaurants and 10,964 bars (of which 4,216 and 4,908 respectively are located in Rome) make the charge, the Repubblica newspaper estimates that the new law will mean a collective saving for customers of over 336,000 a day. It would have been better to let us make this decision, said Nazareno Sacchi, the president of restaurant association Assoristoranti. The risk now is that prices will go up, which will not be in the customers interest.