Diners complain that being browbeaten into paying service charge, sometimes as high as 20 per cent, is not fair, especially in the absence of a clear mandate from the government. Erstwhile royal RK (Rajkunwarani) Gitanjali Shah of Tehri Garhwal makes no secret of her feelings.
While restaurants continue to assert that service charge is their right, Delhi's movers and shakers beg to differ. Frequent diners and erstwhile royals have protested strongly at what they believe are the restaurants' bullying and unreasonable attitude, and all of them voice the same sentiment — it is sheer extortion.
Diners complain that being browbeaten into paying service charge, sometimes as high as 20 per cent, is not fair, especially in the absence of a clear mandate from the government. Erstwhile royal RK (Rajkunwarani) Gitanjali Shah of Tehri Garhwal makes no secret of her feelings.
"Currently, the service charge is literally being shoved down our throats by restaurants, especially when so many taxes are already in place on eating out. I always prefer tipping the servers as per my discretion so to the service I have received. Sometimes it is very bad service and sometimes it is exceptionally good, so tipping does justice in both scenarios," she says.
Arnab Bhattacharya, a consultant, who dines out at least five to six times a week, "by virtue of his profession" agrees. "Tips are always optional but this practice makes them mandatory. I have always been a heavy tipper but since eateries started including in the bill, I stopped tipping. It breaks my heart when I tell a server that he did an excellent job but his tip has been siphoned off by his employer."
Bhattacharya is not alone in his beliefs. Another erstwhile royal who eats out frequently, Kunwar Mayank Raj Singh of Kayasthpada said that he felt "cheated and aggrieved for the hospitality staff" when he was told that only a fraction of the amount was given to them.
"I was completely ignorant about it till now. I had stopped tipping after service charge had became part of the food bill but now I know that I have been fleeced all this time. Restaurants run on massive profit and they must respect the staff who are the brand ambassadors of their establishment," he says.
The erstwhile royal said that restaurants would do well to follow the practice that he and other royal families followed in their homes. "In our families, we always generously reward our helps if we are happy with the service. But again, it is our discretion, not something which is extorted from us," he adds.
Meanwhile, senior marketing professional Rajnish Gogia complains that the mandatory service charge has taken away the personal connect that was formed with servers at places one was familiar with. "I feel bad when tips go into service charge. The amount has been rightly earned by the waiter and should go to him completely. In fact, at some of the places, I have been told by the staff itself that the money is taken away by the owner. What kind of arm twisting is this," he fumes.
ROYAL DECREE
Baisa Pushpita Singh of Kharwa who rewards her karigars individually avers that staff in restaurants should be tipped there and then and directly by the patrons. "Inspite of the service charge, I always try to give some amount to the waiter even if I am paying by card. It is his hard earned gratuity. His employer has no right to take it away from him."
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