Dressed-up Tipping

It's possible that he might be being an unofficial guide, to a greater extent than he would be with a local person (who would expect and require him just to drive, of course) or a domestic tourist.

No doubt some drivers charm tips out of their customers. Fair enough: if people like the charm, they pay for it!

In case of domestic tourists too the driver acts as an unofficial guide. So not really different.

Its fine to overtip but then donot complain that the tourist trade wants to fleece you whereever possible.

Only that they get less money in their pocket at the commissioned shops for Indians than they do for Goras. Otherwise, he/they shouldn't .... however most foreigners do not know of the lucrative commissions that these drivers make by simply dropping them off at a 'just looking no buying Uncle's emporium' <cha-ching>... or the fact that they may return to any shop that you have purchased from while under their auspices to get their due commission/baksheesh. <cha-ching, cha-ching>

Tipping is entirely discretionary and what every one tips is none of anyone else's business.

As long as the person is not arm twisted or forced into tipping, the amount someone tips is personal and their discretion. If someone is new in the country and want to know what the tipping norms are, then perhaps a guidance maybe appropriate but beyond that it is left up to the individual.

Tipping is customary in North America (not just US, but Canada and Mexico as well) and restaurant and bar staff, 15% is the norm for satisfactory service. People tip more or sometimes even less than the 15% and there are some regular places I go to where I tip way more than 15% because I know the wait staff and barmaids on a personal level. And periodically I get extras in the form of free food to try or drinks on the house etc so not too bad.

As for India, there might be a norm but people do overtip if they get good service and I'd tip a driver way more than 100Rs if he was amicable and helpful and did a good job and I've done this on many occasions.

To say the people will get used to someone tipping above the norm and will expect that from everyone is silly. If someone has worked in the service industry long enough, they know they are not getting the same tips from everyone else as the few big tippers.

I will tip someone in India way more than the norm if that person provides me good service (which is rare in India) and in the big picture, it is still a few dollars for me. Tipping 100 Rs ( which is 2 USD) vs 250 or 300 Rs (which is 5 or 6 dollars) is not going to break my bank and if someone deserves it and has earned it, I'll certainly be glad to give a more than usual tip. It is my sole discretion to do that and I don't think anyone has a say in what I can and cannot tip.

If someone in India wants to go out of the way to provide good service to earn good tips, then so be it and as long as they are doing an honest job, I don't see a problem. Actually that is how tipping works in North America and the service here is better than most of Europe because they have to earn their tip by providing good service in return and they get to keep most of the money too (I happen to know waitstaff and barmaids who pull in 600 to 700 USD per night in tips on Fridays and Saturdays)unlike getting slapped with 12.5pc mandatory service charge and the waitstaff get diddly squat out of it.

I agree, tipping is a personal thing, and I probably went way overboard in more than one instance while on holiday in India. If a driver (and I had many) was also very helpful in other issues, then he got more than he was expecting, since it is all relative. If he spoke good English, then his tip was even better. If he knew a lot about the area and the people and provided me with all kinds of other details, and answered all my million-and-one questions, then he did even better! I may get in big trouble here but I tipped one driver 5,000rs for about an 11 day trip and another 7,000rs for only a week because they were both so helpful, neat & clean, and generous with their time & energies.

I even tipped one (that I ended up SO angry about as his English was practically non-existent!) 2,000rs after a week, in spite of the fact that I spent most of my time talking to myself and being mad as hell. I just figured it would have done no good to have ended on a sour note, no matter how upset I was. As I told him when we parted "good man, just lousy English"....

Only one driver got stiffed, that was a dangerous, smelly, shyster type of a guy who had no business driving anyone, was always trying to work me for a deal, (trust me, I could write a book on drivers now) and was subsequently "fired" in the midst of a trip, far from home, replaced by a gem of a guy in a beautiful vehicle. So (ladies especially), never settle for less if you feel you are being taken advantage of, and don't be afraid to switch horses in the middle of the stream!

My last driver made out well, I was his last stop before he dropped me at the airport to leave the country, and I just kept adding $ for every little thing he had done that was special, he was the best! (also because I had the $ left over, so why not?)

Yeh, I know, "last of the big spenders" but as I say, it's all relative and when you feel so positive about someone who has done such an outstanding job of taking care of you, then you appreciate it! Next time maybe I'll be a bit more conservative...but then again, maybe not!

If you'd have to pay me 5 USD for every time I got into an argument because of what was perceived as a lousy tip (though in line with what locals pay) and the driver/waiter/guide/whatever presenting as final argument about why I should tip more 'because you're white and have more money' then you'd keep that wallet more closed next time. Common perception here among drivers etc (and I'm not exaggerating): white tourists = idiots who pay too much. Can't say I wholly disagree.

Ahh, but I am such a happy idiot!

That would apply to the airline pilot, the railway engine driver, the taxi driver or the auto driver, even the traffic police who stops the vehicles to help pedestrians cross - we don't end up tipping everyone...

I believe customers do a mental math to understand how much does a guy get paid in the whole ordeal & try to add something to make him happy enough to give you similar or better service (to you or others) in future. So, if you knew that the State Transport Dept provides a salary of about 15-20000 per month + benefits to the car driver who took you around, versus the typical driver who gets paid 100-200 rs per day only on the days he is driving, even if both are equally courteous & helpful, you might be inclined to tip the latter a bit more...

Well Amigo, I am not a white tourist and though I might be alien to living in India now, I know the tipping norms or ways to find out.

Like I said, tipping is entirely discretionary and it depends on how I feel when I tip.

Someone who thinks I am residing abroad and hence I should tip more because they are entitled to it won't be getting much from me. Like I said, I would tip someone I feel has been honest and provided me good service and I'd tip such people way more than what maybe the norm.

Tipping is gratuity not entitlement and someone who thinks otherwise and demands it won't be getting much from me. That just defeats the whole idea of discretion.

It's easy to say way, way too much! But I used to do the same. On my first trips to India, I didn't even know how much I was paying for the car: they were tailor-made packages, everything paid to the agent. I certainly had no conception of how much a driver was actually paid. I didn't even know to figure if these people were rich or poor on the the economic scale --- and the only thing I regret is that one poor driver got neither his tip nor the Rs5 he spent on bananas for me, because I expected to see him the next day, and they sent someone else. I still feel guilty about that Rs5!

No, I don't regret the large tips: just, now I know better, and know how to advise people better. There was no Indiamike then.

How many times did I say this? Generosity is fine! But the whole point is that I, back in 1997, and Dani, more recently, had absolutely no idea just how generous we were being. We had no idea whether we were just adding a small percentage to the guys income, or paying his children's school fees. Perhaps it would have been nice to know that.

I'm surprised you even negotiate, yet alone argue, such things. I've become rather detached: I walk away, if the guy is unhappy, that's his problem.

And I still want to tip more than my Indian wife does

There's certainly a perception, and something of a game. I wonder what it takes to join the group of auto drivers outside an expensive hotel? Inheritance, probably, or maybe extreme violence! Part of the game is making the tourist dependent, so they don't get the chance to find out what other people are charging. Nice work if you can get it ... and you can get it, I suppose, if you try.

I'd probably say 7000 Rs is wee bit much for a 7 day trip and maybe even 5K for 11 days but again if DaniMontana felt like the driver deserved it and she was happy with the services provided, it is entirely her call and discretion. In the big picture, it is only 100 dollars or so and for a 11 day service, it doesn't sound all that bad if the driver has provided good service in her opinion.

Nick=H, here is something you need to understand about the psychology of people who are visiting and not living there. We tend to think (atleast I do) these people in Indian service industry are making peanuts in terms of salary (which they do) so giving a big tip to someone deserving does not feel all that bad. If some driver who took care of me well for a week or two gets a big tip from me enough to pay his children's school tuition, then so be it.

I grew up there in India for the first half of my life and I am thinking Dani is a visitor from US. I personally feel some of these people are way overworked and underpaid. 20000 Rs per month is still 400 dollars per month and he probably works 6 or 7 days a week for 10+ hrs.

Which they don't.

Inflation has pinched hard, 20,000 would not feel so comfortable now as a couple of years ago, but it is not a lowly income. It is not so long since my monthly budget was 30,000. It is not that much longer since 30,000 was the income of a nationalised-bank branch manager.

Far further down the chain are restaurant staff (at least in ordinary non-posh places) and the guy who sits in the car park. He probably is paid next to nothing, and the token tip is Rs.5. It's been Rs.5 for years. If it is more than half an hour in a shop, I make it inflation-increased Rs10. Same with minimum amount for beggars. If you think even this is mean, then I can only say that it is utterly irrelevant what it translates to in dollars or pounds --- unless the people you are paying are about to take an international holiday!

Others may be more deserving. Bottom line for drivers is that they are paid for what they do, and that the tip is discretionary --- and not even necessary for short call-taxi or auto-rickshaw journeys

i had a very decent FastTrack driver take us from chennai domestic airport to vellore - he drove very well from 11:30PM to about 1:00AM, also helped locate the hotel by locating guards in the middle of the night, even gave us tips on how to save money on next trip (take cab to bus terminal & express bus to vellore, etc.) - chose to tip him 150 rs on a pre-paid fare of 2300 + toll (40).

on return, i was so pissed off with cmc vellore that the auto fellow who took us from hospital to katpadi stn asked for 70 & got 80 from me - i thanked him for driving us out of hell

in general, i agree that short journeys might not carry expectations of a tip, but sometimes some guys are genuinely helpful & nice that you tweak your own rules...

rules are always tweakable ... especially those about tipping








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