Ban default service charges and pre-set digital tip screens in hospitality
Prohibit hospitality businesses from automatically adding "discretionary" service charges to bills, and ban digital card readers from prompting customers with pre-set tip percentages before payment. We believe all tipping must be 100% voluntary and initiated by the customer.
Signatures
170
signatures
Government response threshold (10,000) · 170/10,000
Debate threshold (100,000) · 170/100,000
- 22 APR 2026Petition opened for signaturesCreated by Alicia Jesatova
Background
In our view, the current tipping culture has become coercive and stressful as some restaurants routinely use "drip pricing," adding a 12.5% charge at the end of a meal, forcing customers to awkwardly ask to remove it. We think digital payment screens with pre-set tipping suggestions use psychological pressure to guilt people into tipping for basic counter service. We think this creates a hostile environment and anxiety for consumers.