tipping

I'm not used to tipping and would like some advice on tipping etiquette in India.

I don't know what's too much or too little in various situations. Like someone in a hotel carrying your baggage (even if you insist that you can carry it yourself) or room service. How much is expected?

Often at hotels there is a tip box to leave something for everyone at the end of a stay.
Sometimes if you charge your stay there is a tip line for the guest to fill in and add to the total. 10 percent of total is expected. I hate that and I don't do it. I tend to tip a I go along depending on service and either round up or tip ten to 15 percent or more if the place is good but inexpensive at truck stops in the middle of no where.
It is a variable situation. Often taxi cab drivers aren't tipped but it depends on how good the service is and the attitude or lack of attitude as the case many be. I will be curious to read what others do.

jarod: I am a ridiculously high tipper in India because I still think in Canadian dollars. So a breakfast dosa is 70R which is like 1.75 Canadian. Here the dosa is 7 dollars. So I will tip 50% to 100% on such matters. If I went to some high-falutin hotel catering only to westerners, the matter may be different. Such is the benefit of earning in the west and spending in the east.

Same thing with temple rituals and dakshina (tipping the priest at temples)

Yes; no wonder some of us have a hard time trying to get by thinking in local currency (Do you normally tip 50-100% in your own country? I mean please. But, and as always, to each their own and all that, I suppose. Although I do find it absurd. It doesn't of course make it easier for resident Indians to get around in notably tourist spots, either.)

(And then the next moment of course we'll all be complaining about those ridiculous financial demands and lousy service for it and the general "scamming" all the time. Right.)

But then I'm personally not in the position to tip a hundred or even fifty percent all the time even if I wanted or were inclined to anyway. Must feel good scattering all that Monopoly money around, no. To the OP, the question of course gets frequently asked, so try a search on it. Searching on "tipping" only in thread titles (using the search engine here) will narrow things down some for you.

It depends a lot on whether you are in an expensive restaurant/hotel or in a cheaper dhaba/guesthouse. 10 rupees is appreciated and acceptable in cafes and cheaper places. For dinner, in a cheaper establishment you might consider 20 rupees. I don't usually tip autorickshaw drivers, specially not for short distances. If I do, then it would only be ten rupees.


Eastern Mind, sometimes, giving huge tips as you do, can raise expectations in the minds of those that you tipped, that all foreigners should give equally huge tips. Then they may frown on a small tip.

This is the most rational advice here. I know as a tourist it feels like tipping double what you paid feels great and is still cheap but as shivani said, that really raises the expectations for tips from foreigners to be exorbitantly high.

Tipping is not expected in India in most places but always appreciated. 10-20 rupees is a normal rate for a meal, room service, etc. Of course tip more if you feel inclined, but don't go crazy now!

Most places I go don't see any foreigners, and from what I've seen anything beyond the price was equally appreciated. A couple of places tried to give it back. But I actually have tipped here as much as 50% if the service was really special. Maybe its because I actually worked as a bartender for awhile in the days when tipping was just becoming normalised, and dealt with a few very cheap people. I'm scarred.

I've got a really good 'tip' for a bartender. Get a real job!

I totally understand from the service business side (I was a barista and waitress too back in the day). It's always nice to tip and not be too "cheap". But too much from too many people could give us cheap foreigners who think in rupees a bad name!! Even 20-30 rupees will be considered very generous in your average situation.

As a side note, I don't know where you eat but 70 rupees is a ridiculous price for a dosa in the first place!

I was a bartender for a year right before going to university, saving money to go. I taught for 30 years and am now retired. I thing any service person, especially waitresses and waiters will have the story of the 'big tip'. A friend of mine has a good one from some rock band that I no longer remember. It happens. On Christmas Day. On a wedding anniversary. Because the customer is drunk. There are several reasons.

If I seriously thought that one guy in India who tips 'too much' had any impact on the general idea about tipping with Indian service people, I suppose I'd stop. But seriously, if one person or couple a month comes along and leaves a big tip, do you really think that the waiter's expectations for all other westerners is going to change, and that this idea will somehow flow over by osmosis to the entire service industry of India. somehow I doubt that. That's like saying if you see a poor family living on the side of the road somewhere in rural India, stop the car, walk over and just give 100R or 1000R note, that now they're going to sit by the road watching every car expecting each car to pull over and do the same.

The OP, or any OP on any thread will get more than one viewpoint on the question asked. So I gave mine as well. He can now consider it, and most likely he will take the middle ground of tipping 10% or 10R notes. But I do wonder why jarod is not used to tipping. Do Australians not tip? I think most countries do.

I'm just waiting for the day to see you explode because your coffee isn't in time or perfectly served, Peak.

Pssssst!!!!! A good cup of coffee does take some time.