How is the rupee viewed inside India?

gllewellyn

Hi all!

I am heading to India soon (alone yikes!), and I am trying to absorb as much of the reality of India as possible (and I know it won't even begin to skim the surface!!).

This site is an amazing discovery and I have literally spent the last 2 evenings completely engrossed in it!

As I am trying to get my head around the fact that I will be relatively wealthy there, I wondered...

...I read a lot about tipping etc and how, for example, 10 rupees may be a suitable tip for a service whereas 100 may be ok for another.

Just curious as to how much 10 or 100 rupees is actually worth to your average taxi driver etc. Just feels like it would help me to get a grip on the Indian reality of their currency to find out how much 10 rupees would buy them (for example a loaf of bread?)

badly worded I know but late and tired!!

thanks for any insight!!

Merchant

An excellent question. You're asking about the economic principle of purchasing power parity--which is the notion that a basket of consumer goods should cost the same from country to country. When actual costs are compared, then set against the exchange rate, you can determine whether or not one currency is overvalued against another . . .

But more to your point. PPP data for India, which is not exact and varies a bit from region to region, suggest that 100 rupees in India will purchase the equivalent of $10 in the US. The 10:1 ratio works as a general guideline.

If you give an Indian a 10 rupee note, you have given him a dollar's spending power in the US. 50 rupees/$5, etc.

Remember that this is not the exchange rate, but a useful guideline for figuring what rupees are worth in local terms (using dollars as a guide).

cyberhippie

10 rupees is fine for a rickshaw ride of a say 5-10 Kms or as a tip in any restaurant in both cases the people receiving this will be pretty happy.
On a long taxi ride say 4/5 hours 100 would be sufficient.
Many waiters or rickshaw drivers don't earn that much in real terms, AAfter paying costs and looking after the extended family!! So if we all gave 10 rupees it ends up being a nice sum at the end of the month!!
Of course 100 rupees for a driver getting you there in one piece is a small price to pay he he
10 rupees will buy a packet of bidis and a chai or even a basic meal.
Or at the end of the month if saved a new flashing gizmo for the dashboard of the rickshaw.
100 rupees will go a long way to feeding the family for a day! buy a couple of litres of petrol or help pay backsheesh on the way back home!

Happy Traveling!!

LuAnnandJawahar

Like Merchant says, use 10 rupees the same way you would use a US dollar when it comes to tipping. Don't forget the "boys" who attend you in your hotel. Some of them, especially in smaller properties, work for room and board and ten rupees at the end of your stay will be much appreciated. We tip hotel staff daily when we are on the road. (Not the front desk people!)

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wonderwomanusa

Three or 4 rupees to the boy who brings your room service meal gets you fantastic service! Often, he's the same boy who helped bring your luggage when you checked into the hotel, or who occasionally gets you a taxi.

After a long stay at one hotel, I distributed a handful of 20-rupee notes to the kitchen boy, the sweeper, and a few others who had done various services for me.

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SHIMLA

At restaurants, 5% of the bill amount is usually the norm.

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Layman

Short taxi or auto rides: No tips expected, though it would be nice to round it to the next fiver or tenner.
Long journey taxi rides: When you hire a taxi for a few hours, a 100 rupee tip would be much appreciated.
Hotel bell-boys / room service: A five rupee or ten rupee note would be sufficient.
Eating out:
Roadside places: No tips expected.
Restaurants: Depends on the size of the tab you run up. If under Rs 10 (1 or 2 rupees as tips), upto Rs 50 (5 rupee tip), upto Rs 100 (5 to 10 rupees), upto Rs 500 (20 to 30 rupees), over that, tip about 50 to 100 rupees.
These are the minimum suggested tips, if you want to tip more you will make them happier, but you don't have to.

sillylilly

In Bangalore, for example, each km in an auto is Rs 5. So, 5 kms is Rs 25 and so on. A dosa is Rs. 10 and a coffee is Rs. 5. A bus ticket is Rs 5.0. So, in Bangalore, Rs. 10 doesn't buy you very much in comparision to say a small village somewhere.

anonymous

According to the World Bank website, here are the statistics for GNI per capita based on the US dollar. In terms of PPP: USA - 36,110, India - 2,650. The ratio is approximately 13.6 to 1. In terms of the Atlas method (based on exchange rates): USA - 35,400, India - 470, a ratio of approximately 75 to 1. I admit that I don't know how to interpret the ramifications of these statistics. However if I'm correct in assuming that based on exchange rates the GNI in India comes to 21,150 rupees per year, the disposable income averages out to much less than one hundred rupees a day.

I do know for a fact that 100 rupees is considered a good daily wage for a laborer in HP. This is what they get for doing things like carrying a refrigerator on their back up a steep hill. I also know that waiters in a Goan shack restaurant get about 800-900 rupees a month. Benefits include three meals a day and a table to sleep on at night. However it should be mentioned that these guys spend practically nothing and most of what they earn they save. Not to be sneered at, they can return to Andhra or wherever they come from and splash out big time in their own villages.

We've got a traveler on this board asking if 250 rupees is enough to get by and most of the advice is that it's not enough. I agree because foreign travelers usually have very high expectations compared to their Indian counterparts and won't be able to cope as well. I once met a traveler however, from Eastern Europe, who told me his budget was 100 rupees and he seemed to be surviving somehow.

The point I'm trying to make is this: I think that a ratio of 10 or even 13.6 to the dollar is unrealistic. The purchasing power of a dollar in the US will get you a candy bar in a convenience store and precious little else. There's a restaurant in Paharganj that advertises a meal of rice, vegetable, and a couple of chapatis for five rupees. Like Cyberhippie said, from that ten rupees that leaves enough for a pack of smokes (bidis) and a chai to be enjoyed in the Khosla Cafe - burping contentedly in full view of passersby, very important for one's self-esteem and public image. I've given ten rupee tips to cycle rickshaw drivers and seen them jump for joy and touch the money to their bike and forehead. Try giving a US taxi driver a buck tip on a twenty dollar fare and see how they react.

Having said all this, I think that these observations mainly apply to those who are really poor, the majority of the population. For the upper middle class ten rupees isn't a lot of money and maybe ten to one is about right for them.

shere

10Rs is enough to buy a small bottle of Cola or 10 Big Babol Chewing Gums. I hardly ever tip. What is the point, if you take a taxi they have the meter etc on so why do you need to tip. Maybe I am being tight but noone has ever asked me for a tip besides the porters at the India Pak border crossing (Wagah).

Maybe it is because I dress etc to look like the locals and they do not recognise I am from England.

As for beggers I draw a David Blaine type magic eye on my hand and if anyone asks for money I hold it up. They usually think I am mad or on drugs and stop pestering me.

Rob_The_Pom

This reminds me of a train trip where a very smart chap, who happened to be a Sikh engineer, asked me how I could afford to travel around India for 3 months. He said, 'I am a well paid engineer, I couldn't afford to do this!'
I feel that this is one of the hardest questions you can be asked in India!
It took the utmost good sense and sensitivity on my part to explain this in a fair way.
(And, if the same situation happens to you OP comparing UK and Indian house prices is a good approach!)

Have a great trip!

RTP

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