'Service charge is good but tips are better!'

While restaurateurs and customers continue to bicker over the service charge issue, the ones who are affected most by it — the hospitality staff — struggle to find a voice. DNA attempts to find out how significant is service charge for a server, and whether waiving it off can have a serious bearing on his or her overall income structure. 

Amit Kumar, 29, who works as a captain in the Junkyard Cafe, Connaught Place, used to earn 40% of his "total income" in the form of service charge. Employed at a monthly package of Rs 12,000, he earned Rs 8,000 in the form of 10 per cent service charge levied on bills. "I took home nearly Rs 20,000 every month. The money earned from the service charge varies every month, depending on the sale," shares Kumar, who has been in the hospitality industry for the last five years.

So does the organisation take its maintenance and upkeep margin as well? Kumar considers himself "lucky" for having worked at establishments that have "not pocketed the money and distributed the whole amount judiciously among staffers".

"There is no denying the fact that numerous restaurants take away some part of the service charge, justifying it one way or the other. But the companies that I have worked with, including Diva and Shalom in GK, indulged in fair play and didn't deduct anything from the monthly service charge collection," he says.

Kumar, however, adds that tipping was always a more profitable way to earn an extra buck. Throwing his weight behind guests, he agrees that service charge borders on extortion. "We are forcing them to pay regardless of whether the service was good or bad. Tips, on the other hand, always came as a personal token of appreciation and the amount was based on the patron's experience. There was no ambiguity," Kumar says.

"Furthermore, since the service charge is divided per month among all ranks and file, sometimes a more deserving candidate is at the losing end," he rues, claiming that the top person in the hierarchy, the manager, takes the lion's share "always". "If you are earning a monthly salary of Rs 40,000 as a manager, just by the virtue of the post, you will get Rs 18,000-20,000 as service charge share," he adds.

Junkyard Cafe policy

Amit Kumar informs that while the Junkyard Cafe has abolished service charge, it has devised an incentive programme so that the staff "doesn't feel the pinch". "As much as 10 % of the total sales after tax deduction will be distributed among those working here. But the benefit is completely ours, because tips are back in our pockets," Kumar says.