KOLKATA: The Hotel and Restaurants' Association of Eastern India (HRAEI) is exploring legal options to protest against the Union consumer affairs ministry's guideline prohibiting the compulsory levying of service charge . It infringes upon a business establishment's right to fix a legitimate charge that helps to augment the income of its staff, the association argued."The money collected from service charge is distributed among waiters, backroom and front-office staff. It helps a large number of middle-rung restaurants. Even though I am not in favour of the charge and believe that it should indeed be left to the customer to decide, we must also consider the financial health of our members. So, we are planning to explore the legal option," said Sudesh Poddar , president of HRAEI.Several upscale restaurants across shopping malls in the city levy the charge, some up to 10% of the bill amount. Some pizza outlets have an even steeper rate. This was unfair since it should be left to the guests' discretion, felt Nitin Kothari, owner of Mocambo and Peter Cat on Park Street. "Like most restaurants in the area, we don't have a service charge. It's unfair since it should entirely be the customer's call. It is actually a tip that the guest is paying. If he or she is not happy with the service, then why should you impose a charge?" asked Kothari.Debjani Sinha, a New Alipore resident, is relieved that the charge has been withdrawn. "Once, I had ordered a pizza at the Park Street outlet of a famous chain and they charged me almost Rs 300 more than the declared amount. Later, I found out that the bulk of the difference had resulted from a steep service charge. I felt cheated and have stopped visiting the restaurant," she said. Anjan Chatterjee , founder of Specialty Restaurants of Mainland China and Oh! Calcutta fame, said service charge had been introduced in his chain of restaurants around three years ago to standardize tipping to employees who serve at the restaurants."The world over, service charge ranges from 7.5% - 20%. In India, most restaurants have standardized it at 10%. The entire money goes to the staff. It is a welfare fund that compensates for the extra service that they put in. We mention it clearly on placards at the entry as well as every page of the menu," said Chatterjee.While he says he will have no qualms reversing the practice if the government thinks it is unethical, he questions the 6% service tax that is levied on the bill by the government.Leaving it to the customer will actually help restaurants extract a better service from its staff, felt Pratap Daryanani , owner of Oasis restaurant. "My staff, for instance, do a lot of running around and go out of their way to make guests happy. They do it for a healthy tip which is fair. Once they know that they are going to get a fixed amount irrespective of their quality of service, that urge to put in an extra effort will vanish," he said.Withdrawing the charge could lead to an upward revision of food prices, hinted restaurants who levy the charge. Hrishi Bajoria, owner of Chillie's, also pointed out that the ministry guideline was ambiguous. "On the one hand, it has asked restaurants to keep the service charge column blank and on the other it also wants us to announce if we are levying it," Bajoria said.

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