:D I look forward to hearing about your approaches and experiences. :D

not "always" a service charge
 

I noticed on my last trip that some finer restaurants are not adding tips to dinner bills and even room service. The words "We levy no service charge" were found at a number of the five star hotel restaurants in Mumbai (Oberoi, Taj, etc.). Examination of the bill confirmed this.

It is speculation based upon my observation of bare minimum standards of living in India and the USA.

I am not so sure that the standard of living of the people working in these establishments is so bad though it would interesting to know more about that.

I would agree with knit-in. In India, the classes are multi tiered and
some of the people who work in such establishments make a lot less
compared to someone in the middle-class.

I think its something people are used to. More so depend on to sustain
the middle and upper-middle class society. In this day and age you
can still afford to have domestic help in India without being
super rich. That wont be possible if the vast majority was paid close
to the standard of living. Now what would be a standard.. is another debate.
I dont think there is a simple answer to that one.

I'm sure you've observed some of this before.

In some countries waiters are paid a decent salary and the tip is icing on the cake. In others the waiters are essentially not paid anything by the establishment and rely on the tips for 99% of their living expenses.

I'm not trying to be contrary, just trying to get a better understanding of this issue.

Of the following, which do you folks think are making a decent living by Indian standards from their salary and which are relying on the tips?

1) Disqualified Guy that tries to grab your bag and take it to the car at the airport.
2) Airport pickup/dropoff driver
3) Bellhops taking/placing your bag from/into car
4) Bellhop bringing/takig bag to/from the room
5) Room service delivery person
6) Local run car driver
7) Hotel restaurant/bar waiters
8) Waiters outside hotels

I'd vote for the guy #1 making a decent living... ofcourse
it would be seasonal.

To be honest, I find it very complicated to explain. I hope someone else
can put it in words.

But I think none of these people can afford to travel by air across the
country today. The gap is closing up fast, but just not there yet.

Only 1% of Indians had travelled by air as of year end 2004. By year end 2005, the number certainly rose but we're still talking well less than 2% of Indians having ever been on a flight.

With regards to the list by job occupations, I'm going to presume we are talking about persons (directly or indirectly) affiliated with the major internationally-branded hotels. :

2) Airport pickup/dropoff driver -- decent by Indian lower middle class standards; could live off salary but improves family's future in life with tips.
3) Bellhops taking/placing your bag from/into car -- lives off salary but gets tips to get closer to Indian upper lower class lifestyle
4) Bellhop bringing/takig bag to/from the room -- lives off salary and tips and better off socio-economically than #3's bellhop.
5) Room service delivery person -- lives off salary and tips and a bit better off to significantly better off than #4's bellhop
6) Local run car driver -- gets by on salary (of whatever sort it comes in) but uses tips to improve personal and family's future earning potential to move from upper lower class into lower middle class lifestyle (or better).
7) Hotel restaurant/bar waiters -- gets by on salary and tips and living lower middle/middle middle class lifestyle
8) Waiters outside hotels -- lives off salary but it's not more than an Indian lower middle class lifestyle and their lot in life is not going to improve a lot based on salary and/or the random tip here and there.

India has a lot of socio-economic rigidity on the cultural side but there are still an amazing amount of people who break out of it and an even more amazing number of people who actually do see upward socio-economic mobility being realized by their children, at least in urban areas. (India is still mostly a rural country, dense as it may be.) Most of this is done by salaries -- not tips -- being used to pay for the children's education or for them to acquire the means for their children to get gainfully employed in better professions. But the tips certainly go toward helping too.

This is a good thread that everybody should read! I hate tipping for things that I don't want/need, and I don't. If someone is truly great I tip big. I just have trouble drawing the lines sometimes :).

Thanks,

Dr. PITUK

Tipping in India
 

Tipping is not mandatory in India especialy in mid scale service establishments. In upscale sevice establishments (4-5 start hotels, expensive restaurants, Hertz, Avis etc) it is more the matter of mannerism than a rule. All the people working in these places get salaries. I have never seen any improved service after paying the tip and bad serive for not doing so.

In India, I especially like tipping in mid scale sector becuase many of these guys make less than minimum wages and have to support larger families and I would like to encourage them to continue making an honest living. If I can pay 15% tip in US to the students why not these poor guys who see no light at the end of the tunnel.

I never pay a penny to Airlines porters at the airport, I say no and if they still insist its their time. Airlines pay them more than minimum wages for sure.

I tip only the guy who brings my bags to the hotel room 20-40INR.
I generally don't pay anything to the driver who drops me to the airport. But paying 20-40INR won't hurt.
Nothing to guys who bring me water in my room or delivers any utilities. The only exception in in room service for which I pay 5% of the bill with minimum bing 20INR and max 50INR.
For local taxi only the fare. No tips.
For full day / 8 hour taxi between 50-100INR depending on the service and attitude. My observation is that most of them don't expect it from Indians (a lot of times I have seen them coming back to return the excess money paid by an Indian, only to be explained that it is tip) but seeing an outsider (aka foreigner) they start expecting it. I also make it a point to pay about 40INR each for the lunch or dinner or both if they are with me during that time and they do expect it.
In restaurants, in a mid scale place I tip 5-7% and in upscale place 7-10% up to 200INR max.

If retaining a driver for a daily period or longer, then taking care of the driver's meals (i.e., supplying them with food or giving them some money to grab a bite) is pretty standard -- particularly while they are on duty and not near your or their "home" or "permanent" place of work.

If a meal is not supplied to the driver by my host while "on the road", then I give the driver 40-50 rupees for lunch and 50-100 rupees to eat at those times when I'm eating "away". Basically, if having a meal while "away", make sure the driver is getting a meal too.

The above expectation also exists even if using someone else's driver.

Agreed. When in India, I end up mostly using cars that belong to the Govt of India or Govt of Delhi and I make sure I give the drive some money when I go to eat and tell him to do the same.

Tipping rates in India
 

I've done a search and the last thread is 5 years old... so possibly worth checking again.

What are decent tipping rates in India.

I'll be an independent traveller... staying in basic accommodation... with a couple of 5 star hotels.

However my main tipping issue will be the Andaman Islands where I'm being met by someone from the airport... who will have purchased my ferry ticket to Havelock and take me to the port for the boat. How much should I tip for this?

Tipping in India is usually reserved for very good service, and is not an expected thing always. That being said, if you are using 5 star hotel, and on tourism, people may expect you to tip. I would say 5 to 10% would be a very good amount.

I've found the rates escalating in recent times. Previously no tipping was ever required, in my second home of bombay at least, but these days 10-20% at restaurants and rounding up significantly when paying taxis and autos is becoming the norm.

In North India, i would give 10% at restaurants for excellent service only and only ever round up cab fares for exceptional friendliness, honesty, etc.

As for other tourism services, i would only tip someone for carrying my bags a long way or providing useful honest advice.