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DNA Campaign: A few restaurants take the lead in waiving off service charge

Popular outlets like Junkyard Cafe, L'Ópera, and Garam Dharam have hailed their patrons as supreme by waiving off the 10 per cent service charge on food bills

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Umang Tewari, The Junkyard Café and Laurent Samandari, Managing Director, Lópera
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As the Centre and restaurants continue their war of words on service charge, some of the big restaurateurs in the capital have already bowed down to the dictates of the consumer. Popular outlets like Junkyard Cafe, L'Ópera, and Garam Dharam have hailed their patrons as supreme by waiving off the 10 per cent service charge on food bills.

Taking the lead among the eateries is Umang Tewari. Tewari, who is the owner of Big Fish Ventures — a company that runs restaurants in Connaught Place, Saket, Rajouri Garden etc— did away with the service charge on all his properties as soon as the government advisory was released on Sunday.

"We do not believe in overburdening our consumers. Customer is king for us and we ensure that we will provide them with the best service without charging a single extra penny," said Tewari. Joining him is Laurent Samandari, Managing Director, Lópera, who finds the entire scenario "complex".

"The hospitality industry is one field where there is no room for compromise or shoddy service. Removing 10 per cent from the bill does not mean that we bring down the quality of our products or eating out in entirety," he said.

While doing away with service charge, both Tewari and Samandari are also unanimous in their belief that service charge holds great significance for the staff and, as a result, it will continue to remain a matter of debate.

"There will always be patrons who will undervalue the service provided to them just as there will be personnel who will underperform in their hospitality skills. Also, some F&B institutions that offer lacklustre customer service often get away with levying service charge. They will no longer be able to do this," Samandari says.

Taking forward his counterpart's train of thought, Tewari gives examples of countries like the US and Hong Kong that do not have any provision like service tax/charge. "These are incentives given by customers who are happy with the way they were treated at a restaurant. Our staff works very hard, sometimes even on weekends and holiday. But it is the discretion of the patrons if they want to oblige with service charges and tips."

Tewari adds that while his staff might feel demotivated with his decision as all the collections under service charge go to the staff pool, he will devise more motivational and organised ways to keep their spirits high.

What Government said

Currently, the government has issued a directive which makes it optional for the diner to pay service charge or not

What Should Happen

DNA suggests that the government introduce stricter proposals whereby service charge is removed from the consumer's bill altogether. In other words, the government directive should be enacted into law.

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