New govt guidelines make service charges ‘voluntary’
The government on Friday sent guidelines to all states saying that service charges in hotels and restaurants were “totally voluntary” and not mandatory any longer.
This essentially means that the prices listed in
It’s now up to a patron to decide how much he/she wants to pay as tip
the menu includes the service charge component, and any amount to be paid over and above the bill is totally voluntary on the part of the consumer.
It is now completely up to a restaurant patron to decide how much he/she wants to pay as a tip depending on satisfaction levels over the quality of service provided. Restaurants and hotels can no longer impose a service charge as a part of the bill.
The government on Friday sent guidelines to all states saying service charges in hotels and restaurants were “totally voluntary” and not mandatory anymore.
This essentially means that the prices mentioned in the menu include the service charge component and any amount to be paid above the bill is totally voluntary on the part of the customer.
It is now upto customers to decide how much they want to pay as tips depending on their satisfaction levels on the quality of service provided. Restaurants and hotels can no longer put service charge as part of the bill.
“Hotels and restaurants should not decide how much service charge is to be paid by the customer and it should be left to the discretion of customer,” Food and consumer affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan tweeted.
The minister said that Centre has approved the guidelines on service charges and the same were being sent to states for necessary action at their ends.
“As per the guidelines, service charge is totally voluntary and not mandatory now. The government has approved guidelines on service charge,” he said.
Though the minister had made this observation about service charges earlier, no guidelines had been sent to the states. Even with the current guidelines, the implementation part rested with the state governments.