Mixed response to service charge ban

NT Correspondent
Bengaluru

The ban on hotels and restaurants levying a service charge “automatically or by default” on food bills got mixed reactions from regular customers. While many are of the opinion that the ban will make payment transactions hassle free, others say a meagre 10% to help the staff won’t make a difference.

Koushik N K, an IT professional working at Microland, visits restaurants in prominent areas of the city on weekends. “When the bill comes, we are not informed that the payment for the charge is a voluntary choice. When we do request them to cancel the charge, they (restaurants) are adamant that it should be paid,” he said.

Koushik only recently became aware of the charge being a voluntary choice, which has given him the confidence to take up the issue when he is misled about its legality. However, most are not even aware and continue to be misled by restaurants, he said.

Preetish B P, an employee at Genpact, recently visited a popular pub in Rajajinagar and was baffled to find 10% service charge levied on his Rs 3,000 bill. “I do not recall seeing the service charges mentioned anywhere in the menu. It only came as a surprise with the bill,” he said.

He went on to take up the issue with the managing authorities but was told he would have to mandatorily pay the service charge. “Unaware of the legality, I had to pay. The items on the menu are already overpriced and customers are usually in the perception that the service charge is priorly added to the items on the menu,” he added.

“Maybe you (restaurants) can pay your staff a reasonable living wage so you wouldn’t have to add an extra fee on top of the overpriced menu to support your staff,” tweeted Narayanan Hariharan, along with a picture of a service charge information put up in the restaurant Social, located in Indiranagar.

“Really wish people wouldn’t hold a grudge. It makes a massive difference to the lives of the staff. Restaurants cannot increase the fixed salary of staff as their business model doesn’t support it. This is a variable amount based on sales,” wrote another user. To this, Narayanan replied, “If the business model doesn't support it, then it is flawed. Why should the customer be responsible for (or contribute to) a restaurant employee's salary? That's the responsibility of the restaurateur. If they can't afford it, they are in the wrong business.”

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) in its guidelines has added that no hotel or restaurant “shall force a consumer to pay service charge and shall clearly inform the consumer that service charge is voluntary, optional and at consumer’s discretion”.