Editor Mr.Mayank Rawat ( Chief Editor Mr. Rohit Mishra )
New Delhi: Delhi High Court’s order on Friday that restaurants should not automatically add a service charge to the food bill sent restaurateurs and hospitality associations into a huddle. One of the biggest concerns of the industry is how to tell employees that a sizeable portion of their earnings was going to go away.
Asked about their response, the restaurant associations, which had appeared in court, had a standard reply till late in the evening that they were yet to receive the official court order and could comment on the subject only after going through the order.
Sarthak Batra, founder of Cafe Delhi Heights Ikigai, said he respected the decision and described a tip or a service charge as a token of gratitude paid by customers for good service. “We always left payment of the service charge optional for the customer. It is important to understand that the sum collected as service charge is distributed among the workers. Non-payment of this will leave a big dent on their income,” he claimed.
Another restaurateur, who was following the case closely since the initial stages, said other industries levied all sorts of charges and all of them automatically without the consent of customers. “The restaurant industry is a soft target,” he alleged.
Sidhant Sharma of Soho reiterated that the money collected as service charge was for the benefit of restaurant employees, from kitchen and service staff to the cleaning personnel. The better the restaurant performed, the higher the earnings for the staff, Sharma said.
While another restaurateur said the news of the court order pitted diners against the restaurants, Batra summed up the industry sentiment, saying, “Our employees make an extra effort to put a smile on the customer’s face. The service charge was a way for the customer to reciprocate.”
Mayank Rawat
