Restaurant Service Fees Eclipse Tips

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The service fee in restaurants has become more common at the expense of the tip. Where the former was introduced, the amount and proportion of the latter has dropped drastically, according to the experience of restaurateurs, writes Világgazdaság.

Meanwhile, guests feel that the service fee is essentially a mandatory tip and is charged even where the menu prices are exceptionally high.

Collected service fees can only be used for paying wages. Where it is applied, it is compulsory to charge it to the guests. Tips, on the other hand, are not restaurant revenue, they are paid directly to the waiters and the amount is decided by the customer. Nowadays, the most common way in Hungary is not to tip once a service charge has been paid, the article notes.

"In Hungary, the service fee typically ranges between 10-15%, the amount is not set by law, but is based on common market practice," Gábor Nagy and Zoltán Kőrössy, the founders of Eventrend Group, told the business daily.

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