Tipping in India

rmur

I have searched (and read) multiple other threads on tipping but most date back to 2005 so I just want to make sure I'm up-to-date. Here is a list of tips I am guessing are 'correct' and some that I have not seen meantioned.

• Hotels pre-arraged free taxi pickup from airport: 50rs
• Porter at the hotel: 10rs /bag
• Housekeeping for cleaning the room everyday: ??
• Service I recieve at the free breakfast at the hotel: ??
• Negotiated taxi or autorickshaw: Round up
• Service at a restaurant: ~10-15%
• Metered taxi if I ever find one: ??

I can't think of other places to tip but this is what I will most likely encounter within the first couple days I'm there

Thanks all!

hal2004

I wouldn't go to India looking for people to tip. They'll either be all over you, wanting far more than they're worth, or they won't expect a thing.

I'd give discreet and reasonable tips only when the service is exceptional. But then I'm a cheap bugger.

robotvoice

I knew i was forgetting to do something while i was in india. Now i remember what it was. To tip.

skk

Nope, you are right. Tipping is minimal in Mumbai and Sangli and Pune, as per my brother and sis and cousins. They usually let me leave 5% at restaurants and that's the practice I follow on my own.

I round up the fare to the nearest INR 1, or 5, or 10 as per fare for rickshaws and taxis.

The driver of the rental car is a different matter. I will tip much better there.

I think the whole style is "service compris" - and one should leave the loose change. But I get the guilt trip so I leave 5% and so on.

I definitely NEVAH saw any tipping when I was a kid.

-skk

PeakXV

Don't worry too much about it - any tipping in done in India is never an exacting transaction - you'll get the hang of it & catch onto the 'game' soon enough.

__________________
What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

nayan

Following would be the tips that I would give in the below scenarios

Hotels pre-arraged free taxi pickup from airport: None

Porter at the hotel: rs 50 while checking out of the hotel

Housekeeping for cleaning the room everyday: None

Service I recieve at the free breakfast at the hotel: None

Negotiated taxi or autorickshaw: the exact negotiated amount(it will be a round off amount anyway)

Service at a restaurant: ~10-15%(depends on type of restaurant and total bill amount)

Metered taxi if I ever find one: None

All day sight seeing tours by rented car/taxi - rs 100-150 at end of day

I am Indian by the way and not clutch-fisted either.

rmur

Wow thanks everyone! When reading the other threads it made it seem as though tipping was a big deal.. glad to hear reasonable peoples opinions

On a completely random sidenote.. how much is cab fare from Agra train station to the Taj? I'm so bad at telling what is a rip off..

chAos

How about the guy who (forcibly) takes my bags from a shop for me, and then waits around?

pmvelu

This is what did in the following Scenarios..

Hotels pre-arraged free taxi pickup from airport: NA

Porter at the hotel: 50 Rs if the room rent is <= 500 Rs /Night and My stay is less than 3 days & 100Rs if it's >500 Rs Night & I stayed more than 3 days

Housekeeping for cleaning the room everyday: 20 Rs a Day as these people work in shifts and they do expect on their first shift itself and they are the "Lowest paid" in hotels

Service I recieve at the free breakfast at the hotel: None

Negotiated taxi or autorickshaw: Round up

Service at a restaurant: ~10-15% If the total Bill comes to Rs.100 , I gave 10 to 15 Rs and more than 100 until 500 , Rs25 and I never gave more than Rs .50 till now

Metered taxi if I ever find one: If the person is extremely helpful with No- circuitous routes & if he gives honest opinion / No Trade Motive , 10 to 20 Rs Tip + I will get his Mobile Number and use his service for the whole of my trip !

I am Indian & Mid-Budget [ In Indian Standards].

MrEd

Some of the time when I tip, Indian friends are a bit funny about it. For me, it's something I'm used to back home so I don't see the problem with it. 'Minimum wage' jobs here are so low that I imagine a reasonable tip (e.g. 10/20rs to a bathroom attendent/honest rickshaw driver (if yr lucky!)/pizza delivery guy etc.), can mean a fair bit. This is especially the case now, with price increases hitting the lowest paid the worst. IMO, if you can afford it and it's something you want to do, then I don't see why you should be put off because there is less of a 'culture of tipping' here.

nayan

No tips in this case... if you have conveyed to him already that you did not want his service in the first place.

then he will not try to pull this trick again.

Nick-H

Absolutely.

Never tip someone just because they want a tip.

__________________
.


Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

Aishah

Agree with that Nick. I would do much as Nayan has suggested - with room service boys coming with food to your room I would give 5 - 10 rupees depending on what I've ordered. Some places there will be a box on the counter - in this case I put an amount for the time I've been there in the tipping box which should be shared monthly between all the boys. Restaurants - usually 10% of the bill.

__________________
"Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards."

singsub

apart from in restaurants, and sometimes in hotels (luggage bearer etc), tipping spoils the market, IMHO.

chAos

Ok, thanks. So, if he carries out my bags without the fight, and doesn't wait around, is that tippable? If so, how much? Does it depend on what kind of shopping (groceries, other) and how much is there?

(thanks for your patience with me here.)