Dressed-up Tipping

An interesting discussion here, reflecting my different feelings at different times. Our first driver we used was organised by the tour leader was excellent, and we had him for two weeks, only problem was he was a bit overprotective, but gave us snippets of info too . We paid a very good tip as advised by the tour leader..only felt that as a couple we maybe shouldn't have paid twice. Another driver was organised for two days, who was ok except he kept spitting pan or betel juice out of the door whenever he slowed down enough! This was a real turn off, so at the end we gave him 75 rup which we knew was going to be seen as mean. He directly challenged the amount, asking if I wasn't satisfied. I said he was OK and wrote good service on his chit, but didn't feel like paying more, saying that I knew he got a salary.
At a monument today we tried to give the toilet cleaner something but she said the men sitting outside should get it...seemed unfair.
Generally I try to tip the toilets cleaners something and women generally as they are likely to have less access to family money, though I know this is probably a huge generalisation. I don't pay children for photos as I think they can be misused, and I am uncomfortable about giving children money for "services "

Interesting examples. Of course with a driver, SAFETY is paramount. But i'd have a hard time being appreciative of even a safe driver who spits like that. Ewww!!

i think you should have been direct with him in this regard - just tell him right when he does it that you don't like him doing this. same way, when you gave the tip, you should have been clear that you gave him less than usual because of what he did.

not that i'm trying to defend him, but the problem is that most indians (not just drivers) think spitting is the norm and have to be told clearly that it is unacceptable if they expect you to be pleased.

on a related note, on our honeymoon trip, we had a driver in cochin dropping us to a jetty who was playing malayalam music in the car. we asked him if he had any hindi option, which he said he didn't, so we asked him to switch it off. on the return pickup, he had gotten hindi music cassette just to make us happy. of course, the fact that he drove very safely & without honking for almost 2 hrs meant he deserved to be tipped very well.

The thought that comes to mind is "when in Rome...." all I can say is if you don't like spitting than maybe you should go to Singapore. I am sure that whatever tip you give him is not going to change his life.

With regard to the music you have every right to say no, but with regard to the spitting you are wrong (provided of course the spit is not blowing back on to you).

I don't like it if a driver spits either but I've gotten used to them doing it and it's no longer a big deal to me. However, I do think that if it annoys you, you have every right to say so. You're the customer, if he were to light a cigarette you'd probably also remark on that and tell him to put it out. You pay, you decide. I agree with paramyer that you should have told him you don't like the spitting so he had a chance to stop doing it and make your trip -and his tip- more pleasant. As was said, chewing paan and spitting is more or less the norm here, especially with drivers.

So - I'm Australian - and we just do not tip at home. It's not expected, and we are not accustomed to doing it.

In India - we do tip - 100Rp per day for a good driver. Same for a good guide. Restaurants - depends on the quality of the service - 10% to 15% for exceptional service. Porters - 50Rp per bag.

BUT all the above are for good service. Surly or perfunctory service - small or no tip! - Sadly there's a bit (not a lot - but............) of that.

please don't treat this as a comment on your tipping expertise, but since you mentioned you are not accustomed to it, i can share that some numbers are too high or too low...

driver - 100 rs per day is fine for a typical day usage trip, where he takes you around a city. if continuous long distance driving is involved for a whole day, you might decide to increase that depending on how safe & smooth he drives (my acid test is being able to go to sleep in the backseat & wake up on your own)

restaurants 5-10% is fine for typical joints, 10-15% is expected in 4-5 star restaurants

porter - for rly, 50rs per bag might be too high, unless it is one gigantic trunk! btw, porters get their negotiated fee, any tip may be on top of that (they are not salaried employees of railways). usually their quote may start at 30-50 per bag & you are expected to negotiate it down to 10-20 per bag & add a tip if he was nice overall.

Thanks paramiyer.

A useful, helpful post.

To each his own, but I would be totally embarrassed to give a tip of only 100 inr per day for a driver who has safely and abley transported me in India. Literally, my life is in their hands!That is $2 USD!!!! Unlike in Australia, tipping is accepted and done in USA.

If you pay hugely more than the accepted rates then be prepared that even an otherwise upright man will start seeing you(and the next western client) as an ATM.

I've tipped 500 rupees to the driver who took me around for 4 days in Kashmir.I tipped him on my last day with him.

Nayan, there's the rub. What is an "accweptable" amount, anf from whom, and for whom?

Acceptable, imho, is a reasonable tip, knowing that most drivers would make between 10-15000 Rs/month. If you pay him 500 Rs tip for a single day, that's almost a day's worth of wages. Don't forget that some people labor here 6/7 and make 6000 Rs/month in a good month. Think in local terms, not western terms when tipping.

Paramiyer and prince have given you a good estimate of acceptable.

From whom - the client, shouldnt really matter whether he is Indian or not

For whom - the driver. In case of a foriegner the driver is not really providing any extra service than what he would provide for an Indian. So why should he get a huge premium?

I agree with Dillichat about respecting the local economy. Otherwise things get screwed up for everyone.

I agree but it's quite difficult to think in local terms when you don't know how much people might earn.

Judging on the stuff mentioned above I've been overtipping hugely in previous trips. I think I've got better, but clearly not as much as I'd hoped.