Sodexo coupons dont fetch a meal anymore

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sodexo coupons are techies’ ideal way to purchase food items as well as to escape tax cut. However, of late, Sodexo coupons remain just paper for the techies as many of the prominent food chains and restaurants have stopped accepting them.  Many of the retail chains and food courts have announced that they had stopped accepting Sodexo coupons. According to Balachandran, manager of Vital Links, which operates as many as 15 restaurants in Technopark, many outlets in the city had stopped accepting food coupons as there was a delay in reimbursing the money. “The restaurants under Vital Links are still accepting the coupons,” he added.  “Usually, they pay the amount twice a month. But for the past two-three months, there has been a delay in paying the amount to the restaurants and food chains. Following this, many food chains in the city have stopped accepting the coupons,” Balachandran said. Balachandran was instrumental in introducing Sodexo coupons to Technopark around 12 years ago.  Nisar Kottayil, an employee of RMESI, Technopark, said Sodexo coupons have become invalid for the past two months. “Major shops, including margin-free markets, have stopped accepting the Sodexo coupons. Or company has sent mails about its decision to stop issuing Sodexo coupons. Some companies have switched over to other kinds of food coupons,” he said. He added that restaurants operating in Technopark too had stopped accepting Sodexo coupons. “Except a few, most of the restaurants, which earlier accepted the coupons, are now saying no to it,” he said. Most of the food chains in Technopark have started displaying notices saying that they won’t accept Sodexo coupons anymore.  Techies used to get Sodexo coupons worth Rs 2,000-3,000 per month. The sudden change has come as a surprise to many, while some feel good as they mostly used to purchase ‘unwanted’ things using the Sodexo coupons. “Sometimes, we won’t value Sodexo as hard cash and spend it for unwanted things as we get it for free,” said Santhosh, a techie, during an online discussion.