• TOPICS
Down south, east and western flank, a debate is raging over the government's decision to slap a ban on service charges.
The Indian service traders are up in arms against the decision. As is the norm in a democracy, the pros and cons camps articulate their opinion on the issue over TV and other media.
The pro-camp, mainly traders, insist that a service charge is necessary for morale and pockets of the service staff, an incentive to excellent service.
The cons camp maintains that a satisfied and happy customer will leave a service tip. They also argue, why should an unhappy customer tip at all? The debate will go on for some time before the government puts its foot down and declares in an authorial style: No tips!
Not all results come from clashes of minds in a democracy.
Some democracies are only in namesake. The criteria of democracy are endless election stunts, as we have come to understand in the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.
In the landlocked Republic, the arguments over service tips were limited to the army of staff and the traders, with the government standing mute as a neutral umpire. Except for the news, there was not much media debate, especially among the learned gentry. Our electronic media delight in adverts for the strength of cement and rods, comic resorts and other entertainment for the masses.
When we had arguments over tips in the landlocked Republic, the unions, the biceps and fists of the political parties, sounded their ominous warning.
Rather than confrontation, the traders settled for a truce and agreed to a 10 per cent service tax plus VAT and TSC for the government in a win-win model. The caveat was the traders would also keep part of the proceeds with a large chunk going to the staff, a perfect democratic exercise or experiment with equitable distribution of the largesse.
What do the consumers feel? After all, they are the fountain of the service charge.
Consumers who pay their bills would not be delighted about a service charge, especially if the amount is hefty.
Those who eat and drink on the house would not give a thumb as their hosts would pick up the tab.
We have paid many faces of dollars as tips to taxi drivers, room service and waiters during our travel. We have no problem paying a couple of hundred rupees provided the service meets our not-so-high expectations.
We go to eat out for delicious, hygienic and healthy food and fun and frolic. Why should we be forced to pay a tip when the food, service and ambience fail to meet our low expectations? Some of us avoid eateries for fear of the service charge. We don't mind paying the service charge to a witty, smiling, professional attendant with a smiling face and clean fingers.
A version of this article appears in the print on July 15, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
