Billing in restaurants & hotels

Alert Customers also look at the prices mentioned on the Menu card while placing the final order in a restaurant,. But while making the payment, they are asked to pay an amount which is significantly more than the prices mentioned. The difference is due to the statutory taxes which go to the Government and also those which go the establishment (restaurant) in a round about fashion. On this subject I would like submit that:

a) The restaurants may be asked to mention the actual price of a dish including taxes and other charges payable by the customer. How the establishment accounts/ computes the amount that is to go to the Government and to the establishment is a simple internal exercise (a software fix would do the job) with which the customers need not bother about.

b) Some restaurants levy a separate Service Charge which is normally about 10% of the prices mentioned. Is it the cost of preparation of the dish? waiting? Cleaning? Space? Air conditioning? etc etc. It should be included in the price of the dish and displayed in the Menu Card accordingly.

c) In some countries like the USA, a customer is forced to pay a tip which is 10-20% irrespective of the quality of service rendered. In case the amount expected is not given, the service staff may rudely return the whole amount.

In India we are better off. We pay a tip depending upon the quality of service. However, some restaurants are smart and levy a “Service Charge” which is usually 10%. If not careful, one may end up paying a tip as well on top of the Service Charge. Besides, some customers may not know the difference between Service Charge and Service Tax. I suspect that the money collected thereby is pocketed by the restaurant owner and does not go to the service staff.

d) It is not unusual to find that in many restaurants, the bill is illegible due to poor printing quality; you are unable to check the items vis-a-vis the price. I have found arithmetic errors also. Customers at the most check the basic content and not usually the arithmetic part. Unless careful, one may end up paying more because the bill producing software can be tweaked to swindle customers.

Besides, the quality of printing (ink-paper combo) is sometimes such that the bill becomes illegible few days later – this becomes a problem when the bill is to be charged to an office account. The restaurant may also be adopting such technology intentionally to erase / hide the trail of financial transactions. more