Employee satisfaction is one of the cornerstones of a successful business. To keep your employees happy, just paying salaries on time is not enough anymore.

Many businesses are introducing trending perks for the employee, including meal cards for employees. This service is quite popular in the corporate sector and also gives effective output in productivity. Here, you will get to know everything about meal cards and their benefits.

Why is there a need for Meal Cards for Employees?

Businesses now have to look into providing incentives, gift cards, employee rewards & recognition schemes, mental health upliftment practices, and whatnots of the woke world. While these seem to be the norm already, companies are now pushing the envelope by offering tax-saving facilities for employees with the help of meal cards.

Employees are always on the lookout to increase their in-hand salary. By offering them services that help them reduce their tax, it’s a win-win situation for both the business and its employees.

Moreover, offering meal cards to employees will help increase their morale and provide job satisfaction. 

These meal cards also allow employees to choose from a variety of options on a daily basis, giving them multiple choices across different categories like restaurants, confectionery, fast food restaurants, dairy products stores, bakeries, etc., as per their mood and preference. 

The purpose of providing employee meal cards is to ensure that they have easy access to daily meal-related needs. This enforces a work environment where employees' well-being and satisfaction are promoted.

Are you wondering how the employees will handle the meal card?

Now, the question remains: how to disburse the amount to each employee? How to keep track of the meal amounts being used? These burning questions are answered easily by EnKash– Asia’s 1st Spend Management Platform, helping businesses with a wide range of products and solutions that enable savings, operational efficiency, and fast-track growth. 

EnKash offers a gamut of corporate cards- both credit and preloaded cards. These meal cards are easy to use, convenient, and versatile. They can be used at all food and non-alcoholic beverage merchant outlets, including restaurants, sweet shops, etc. Further, one can use these meal cards to get food delivered from online apps like Zomato, Swiggy, Dominos, Pizza Hut, Chai Point, and Cafe Coffee Day etc.

5 Benefits of Using EnKash Meal Cards

Use As Physical Or Virtual Card

Employees can use this card either physically at an outlet or a digital outlet for online food delivery or online payment. Meal cards for employees can either be issued physically as a plastic card or digitally as a virtual card.

Flexible To Recharge

You can either preload the meal card with the monthly meal allowance amount or you can top up the meal card daily with the daily food allowance amount, as per your convenience.

Easy Tracking

These meal cards also come with an option to get on board their smart and intuitive card management platform that can allow you to keep track of all expenses on all cards from a single dashboard.

No Boundaries

The meal cards for employees are PCI-DSS Certified and RBI Compliant, so there is no hassle of federal compliance. The platform helps you maintain a real-time check on all spending while it happens on the meal cards. So, you can rest assured that the expense is well within the authorized limits and merchants.

Tax savings

One of the major benefits of meal card allowance is the tax exemption that employees get on their salary. Getting a lunch allowance in salary from the employer's end enables employees to save taxes annually. 

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What type of meal allowance should you offer?

As an employer, you can offer different types of meal allowance in the form of a cash stipend, reimbursement for meal expenses, or in the form of prepaid meal cards, which employees can use in designated restaurants, food chains, or grocery purchases.

Prepaid meal cards are preloaded, rechargeable cards that can be issued and used in the form of both physical and digital cards. These cards are the easiest way to provide meal allowance to employees as they can be accessed easily from anywhere in the world.

How to set up a food allowance

One of the ways this could be achieved is by disbursing tax-free meal amounts to your employees. According to Indian federal law, the income tax bracket ranges from 5% to 30%. Under the Income Tax Act Section 17(2)(viii), food allowance can be provided to your employees which is entirely tax-free.

Under this act, you can offer a meal card allowance of Rs 50 per meal. If you decide to provide 2 meals during the day, it comes up to Rs 100 per day. If you have a weekends off policy, your employees work approximately 22 days a month.

As per the above work duration, the food allowance racks up to Rs 2200 per month, which is Rs 26,400 per annum. This means that your employees can save tax on Rs 26,400 annually if you provide them with meal allowances. This is definitely not a small amount, and your employees will be grateful to you for being so thoughtful towards their savings via meal card allowance. It will also instill goodwill and faith in them towards your company, which in turn helps in forging long-lasting employee bonds.

Access From Around The World

You can also remotely block the card if it seems like it has fallen into wrong hands. The preloaded nature of these cards helps in safeguarding against fraud as the expenditure cannot go over the amount present on the card.

These cards can be issued directly from the card platform and can be activated instantly through e-KYC. One of the significant benefits that the finance team enjoys with meal cards is the paperless process of disbursal and reporting.

With a remote-friendly platform, finance managers can monitor the cards from anywhere and take action with a single touch of a button. Audits are easier because of flawless digital bookkeeping and maintenance of expense records on a digital database that is secure and backed up on the cloud.

Enjoy this host of benefits and enhance your business by applying the meal cards for employees scheme in your firm. Boost spirits and sales without worrying about additional overheads. EnKash is here to back you up in your journey to make your business smarter. 

Here are some FAQs to answer your queries related to the meal cards.

Where are meal cards accepted?

Meal cards can be used across different categories for food and non-alcoholic beverages at the following places:

• Restaurants & Eateries
• Fast food chains
• Bakeries and dairy product shops
• Supermarkets and grocery shops 
• Food retail outlets
• Convenience stores and specialty markets
• Sweets and confectionery shops

Are there any tax exemptions for using this meal card?

Yes, you can get tax exemptions of Rs 26400 annually by using this meal card.

Do I need to get a KYC done to get this card?

You need to register yourself and get your KYC done to activate the meal card.

Can I use this meal card to withdraw money?

No, you cannot use your meal card to withdraw cash or for any other purpose except for purchasing food.

Are these cards reloadable? Is there any limit to the amount?

Yes, these cards are reloadable. Every month, these can be recharged with an annual limit of Rs 26400.

How can I keep track of my meal card balance?

You will receive a text message for every transaction you make on purchasing food or related products using a meal card. You can log in to EnKash and check your balance on the dashboard. 

Can I use these cards online?

Yes, you can use these cards online and offline to make purchases only related to food items.

What do to in case my card is lost/stolen?

If your meal card is stolen or lost, you can reach out to us at support@enkash.com or call us at 8530490475.