Tips?????

Most people leave tips for the waiters after paying for their meal at the restaurant. The tip amount varies depending on the customer, the service provided by the waiter and the overall restaurant experience. No offence here, but in India, the tip amount left by customers at most restaurants is typically very small - essentially the loose change is left behind or if it is a credit card payment, the amount is rounded off to the closest 10's or the 100's.

Tips are a very integral part of the waiter's and the restaurant staff's work lives. Think of it as a discount you get on something that you buy. Though you may be spending a 1000 bucks for the product, the 5 or 10% discount makes you feel quite happy. The tip amount that a waiter receives has almost the same effect. How do restaurants deal with tips and how does the money go the waiter?

In most restaurants in India, contrary to popular perception, the specific waiter does not pocket the tips. All the tips received are collected in a common box and a formula is used to divide the total tip amount among the waiters, the clearance boys and the cooks. Typically the amount is divided and handed out before the staff leave work at the end of the day. In some restaurants, the cashier or the restaurant manager collects the amount and then the distribution happens once a week (typically on a dull day like Monday). For credit card payments, the tip amount is noted down by the cashier and the amount is taken out from petty cash (cash kept for petty expenses) and added to the tip pool and distributed.

Over the last year, most fine-dining/premium restaurants have started including "Service Charges" in the bill - Essentially this is a forced tip ranging from 5% to 10% of the bill amount. Most of these restaurants mention this in small print on the menu. In this case, the restaurant has the accurate data on the tip amount (Service Charge) collected during the day/week/month through their billing software and distributed to the waiters based on a pre-determined formula.

A number of restaurants, especially the ones which charge customers a forced tip (service charge), deduct a portion of the total tip amount collected towards breakages (e.g. glasses, crockery etc. that invariably breaks either due to the customer's fault or due to the restaurant staff's fault while washing/carrying). This amount could range from 10-25% of the total tip amount during a period.

In the case of home delivery, the delivery boys are typically allowed to pocket the tip, as there is no easy way to track the tip amount. Plus it is generally accepted by the rest of the staff in the restaurant, that doing door delivery is a very difficult task and they are quite comfortable with the delivery boys pocketing the tips.

In most western countries, the tip amounts are quite generous (10-15% of the bill) and in most cases the respective waiter gets the tip amount in full. While it is generally perceived that the specific tip amount depends on the quality of service the waiter delivers, the tip amount range stays between 10-15% of the bill, unless the waiter has done something to upset the customers. The upside is limited.