BENGALURU: People eating out will have to continue to shell out ‘mandatory tips’ in the form of service charge in restaurants. Managements have chosen to continue levying this charge despite the Department of Consumer Affairs declaring that the payment of service charge is at the discretion of the consumer.
Ashish Kothare, chapter head, Bengaluru, and member, managing committee of the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) said the option of making payment of service charge voluntary is only a suggestion from the department. “Right now, it is a suggestion, not a rule; so it will continue. We will look at it seriously,” he said.
The NRAI has around 100 members in Bengaluru.
Justifying the need for levying such a charge, he said the practice started in restaurants in Bengaluru around 10 years ago during the influx of software engineers as the information technology scenario boomed. “When people ate out, they thought it was good enough to leave a Rs. 10 tip for waiters. But these people — waiters, security guards, etc — work all day. Hoteliers decided that instead of trying to fight with them and be unfair, it was better to start levying a service charge,” he explained.
The service charge ranges from five to 10 per cent of the bill amount.
Those in the budget hotel industry say they only include a service tax, which is often confused with service charge. B. Chandrashekar Hebbar, president, Bruhat Bangalore Hotels Association, said many of their members are not taking any service charge from customers.
Meanwhile, with the Central government asking State governments to ‘sensitise’ companies, hotels and restaurants about provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 and disseminate information about service charge being voluntary, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister U.T. Khader said the State would seek a clarification from the Centre on the directions.
