‘Service charge should be removed on request’: What govt has told restaurants after Noida scuffle

Why it matters: Restaurant patrons have the option to get service charges deleted from the bill upon request, as per the DoCA. Department secretary Rohit Kumar has urged hospitality industry leaders to advise their members to not insist on levying a service charge, “especially when a request to remove it from the bill is raised by a consumer.”

The details: The notice has been sent the letter to Kabir Suri, the President of National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), and Suresh Poddar, the President of Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI).”You would agree that any such charge is in the nature of tips or gratuity, which a consumer may decide to pay voluntarily depending upon her/his satisfaction with the quality and service provided by the establishment,” it states.

Why now?: The DoCA’s directions come a day after a violent scuffle broke out over payment of service charge of Rs 970 at a restaurant in Noida’s Spectrum Mall. A video showed customers and staff purportedly hitting each other outside the establishment.

The response: NRAI president Suri told The Indian Express that the body had taken note of the letter. A member of NRAI, who did not want to be named, said, “Service charge is distributed among the entire staff in most cases… don’t we pay convenience fees in railways, airports and taxis? It (service charge) is fundamentally the same thing.”