[PreludeSH]

Originally Posted by am1m

I actually prefer having a service charge on the bill, makes it easy for me, not having to figure out how much to tip. And unless the service has been atrocious (which I can't ever remember it being at any restaurant I've been to), I always tip, so this makes it easy.

Same with me. I always look at service charge and sigh that I dont have to worry about calculating, how much percent etc. Since they do it, I just hope they should be happy with the percentage that they are using

[Everlearner]

The concept of service charge itself is flawed. As a business, the restaurant will/should decide the prices of their goods considering all expenses all the way from doorman to chef to accountant to manager and of course their profit margins. There is no charity being done by serving people in the restaurant.

[Captain Slow]

Originally Posted by am1m

I actually prefer having a service charge on the bill, makes it easy for me, not having to figure out how much to tip. And unless the service has been atrocious (which I can't ever remember it being at any restaurant I've been to), I always tip, so this makes it easy.

.

The problem is not the service charge but the tax on the service charge? Secondly, how do we know that the service charge will go to the person serving us? And not to the owner's pocket?

[Doonite]

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

The problem is not the service charge but the tax on the service charge? Secondly, how do we know that the service charge will go to the person serving us? And not to the owner's pocket?

There's another problem that needs adressing.

Since when is tipping an obligation and not a choice?
It should be up to the customer/service user to decide and not a mandatory add-on.

[Gypsian]

A welcome decision by the CCPA. Many a times I have confronted this service tax and got it removed because I pay tips based on my satisfaction.
Similar action is necessary with theatres charging extravagant price for food and beverages within cinema halls, more specifically multiplexes which has resulted in unfair trade practices.

[ninjatalli]

I try to pay 10% on my own even when heading to the smaller Udupi-type restaurants when served by a waiter (a 15-20 Rs on a 150 Rs bill hardly hits the wallet), so I don't generally find the auto-added 10% service charge in my bill when heading to one of the more established restaurants. Or the delivery guys on Swiggy/Zomato.

What I would have preferred in the past is to refuse service charges if the service wasn't that good; so although from that point, I would say this is a good decision but realistically I would not see an impact when I do eat out at similar places going forward.


It will be interesting to see how restaurants handle these new guidelines. I'm guessing the ones caring for their staff will "suggest" customers to tip staff if they enjoyed the service (as part of the menu or as part of the bill I suppose).

[Sran]

I am vehemently against service charge. A decent meal with spirits for 4 people costs upwards of Rs 20,000 in Delhi, standard measurment for spirits being 50ml (a travesty) and establishments like those charge around 20% service charge. I am all for increase in cost of food and beverage but 20% service charge is loot. I am ready to pay bill whatever I incur but to pay Rs 4,000 as tip is unjustified.

4 years back when govt. made S.C optional, they must have thought that hospitality industry will compete for gentry and it may eliminate service charge instead they all formed a cartel, an unfortunate situation. Every decent establishment in Delhi- NCR typed it in their menu or put a banner at entrance that they charge S.C and enter only if you agree to pay it.

[GTO]

I am a big tipper by nature, be it waiters, valet drivers, domestic help etc. But what I do NOT appreciate is being "forced" to tip in the guise of a 10-15% "service charge". It's not fair for restaurants to pass off the burden of their salaries to customers. Instead, they should pay their employees a fair wage. Else, we will see service charges for mechanics in workshops, stewardesses in flights, house-cleaning staff of hotel rooms and what not.

This mandatory service charge sucks and I'm very happy to see the authorities cracking down hard on it.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

The problem is not the service charge but the tax on the service charge? Secondly, how do we know that the service charge will go to the person serving us? And not to the owner's pocket?

Agree. I feel that the service charge will go to the owners pocket and not distributed equally among the staff- from the kitchen staff to the waiter. I do not believe that the tips should go only to the waiter serving me. There are cleaning staff, kitchen staff who have significant role in making my experience at a restaurant good. Many times, in small scale restaurants, I tip the cleaning staff along with the waiter. 50 bucks for each of them.

A few months ago, I visited this upscale and expensive Cantonese restaurant called Yauatcha in MG road. The food was decent. The service was below average. However, I was forced to pay service charge on the bill which I would not have paid if I had an option.

[Malyaj]

Service charge has also become a tax dodging tactic. By positioning it as a tip, restaurants try to insert it after the bill+tax. This would be fine if:

1. There was transparency in terms of sharing the sales data with staff, so that they know exactly how much so called 'tip' they have earned
2. The entire amount collected as service charge is paid as tip to the staff

I am a member of a Facebook restaurant group and some of the outrage there is laughable. Restaurant owners are saying that with this ruling the staff will no longer be motivated to serve customers properly. Just wow. So now providing good service is contingent upon tipping. By this logic, everyone in every service industry (including IT folks) should behave grumpy, slack at work unless they are receiving a tip. The onus of keeping employees happy is now on the customer and not the employer.

[bharanidharang]

This is one more of the change which was brought in without a thought process. Once started, very difficult now to remove the amount restaurants enjoyed as part of Service Charge. We will end up having these charges as increase in the food items.

Why cant we simply have it like abroad as a general norm than put it on bills.

[WorkingGuru]

AFAIK, this was to escape paying GST on 10% of the revenue. The industry will simply opt to pay GST on it and increase prices.

Is it "Unfair"?
It's for the service provider and service recipient to decide whether or not something is fair & acceptable, in their terms of service. Unless there's a violation of those terms of service, or there are exceptional circumstances of human rights violations, it should be beyond the ambit of consumer courts to interfere on commercial "terms and conditions" in hindsight, because businesses will be unable to operate.

Whether the problem is on the service provider side or it's the recipient side, many of us would've noticed that because of a few "disagreeable" & exceptionally difficult people, alot of us often remain deprived of many useful products/services.

IMO Since service providers usually need to hustle fairly hard to make things work around such people, Prima facie this judgement seems to come across more as a hurdle to (usually small but established) businesses that try to make things available.

[DigitalOne]

Just FYI, in Japan, there is absolutely no tipping culture; in fact, tipping is considered rude. Yet their service levels are beyond excellent. Attitude is what matters not the tip amount.

[Raghu M]

Originally Posted by DigitalOne

Just FYI, in Japan, there is absolutely no tipping culture; in fact, tipping is considered rude. Yet their service levels are beyond excellent. Attitude is what matters not the tip amount.

There is a different angle to it. In Japan it may be considered rude to tip but in NY (most of US), waiters are generally not paid a salary. They live on tips. The unwritten charge is around 10% of the overall bill. I don't see how attitude comes into picture. The service charge is being charged by the restaurants/hotels which is illegal. They have GST, that should be it. On top of that if a customer is happy with the service, he/she will tip the waiter/waitress.

[FrozeninTime]

Originally Posted by Raghu M

There is a different angle to it. In Japan it may be considered rude to tip but in NY (most of US), waiters are generally not paid a salary. They live on tips. The unwritten charge is around 10% of the overall bill.

The way I see is, the employer is escaping from his or her obligation of paying the fair wages and forcing the customers to foot a part of the wage bill in form of “a service charge”which is totally unethical and unfair. I am totally against the forced tipping culture and whether to tip or not should be discretionary.

I am happy with the government decision as it puts an end to this malpractice. Prices in Indian restaurants are already high and this new rule will hardly make any difference.