Tipping in India: Who to Tip, When and How

There is no official rule. Neither the government nor any tourism body publishes a tipping scale, so what follows is our practical advice, drawn from the trips we arrange, rather than a regulation. In the tourist trade, a tip for good service is customary and appreciated, especially by guides, drivers and hotel staff. It is never an obligation.

What you give depends on how long someone looks after you, how many of you there are and how good the service was. A driver who has spent ten days with you on the road has earned more than a porter who carried a bag to your room. That is why we do not quote a fixed figure: a number that suits one trip is wrong for the next. If you would like to know what our guests usually give, ask us while you plan the trip.

• Your guide. A private guide for a day or a few days is usually tipped at the end of the time with you. If a different local guide takes you round each city, tip each one as you part.
• Your driver. On a private car trip the driver is with you for days, often from airport to airport. Most travellers tip at the end of the trip, in one sum.
• Hotel staff. Porters who carry luggage, housekeeping, and staff who go out of their way for you. Housekeeping is easy to forget: leave something in the room or hand it over at check-out.
• Restaurant staff, when no service charge is on the bill. Where a service charge is printed on the bill, read the next section first.
• Others who look after you: a boatman on a backwater or river trip, a jeep driver and naturalist on a wildlife safari, a spa therapist, a camel handler in the desert.

We advise against offering money to officials, police or staff at government ticket counters.

• In rupees. Someone handed foreign money has to find a bank or authorised money changer before they can use it. Keep small rupee notes aside for tips as you go.
• To the person. Hand it over directly, with a word of thanks, rather than leaving it in a shared pot, unless the hotel asks you to use one.
• At the end. For a guide or driver, tip when the service ends rather than day by day, unless you are splitting a long trip between several drivers.
• In an envelope, if you prefer. Many travellers find this the least awkward way to give a larger tip to a driver or guide.

A tip is a thank-you, so you can adjust it: more for someone who made the trip, less, or none, if the service was poor.

Here there is an official rule. The Central Consumer Protection Authority's guidelines of 4 July 2022 say a hotel or restaurant may not add a service charge to the food bill automatically or by default, may not collect it under another name, and must tell you it is voluntary and at your discretion. It may not refuse you entry or service if you decline, and it may not add the charge to the bill and then levy GST on the total. The Delhi High Court upheld the guidelines on 28 March 2025, holding that the mandatory collection of a service charge is contrary to law.

If a service charge appears on your bill and you do not want to pay it, ask for it to be removed. If the restaurant refuses, you can complain to the National Consumer Helpline by calling 1915 or through its app, or take a complaint to the Consumer Commission online through the e-Daakhil portal.

If you choose to pay a service charge, there is no need to tip on top of it; if you have it removed, tip the waiter directly instead.

On a trip with a private guide and driver, the tip is the one cost that is yours to decide. We suggest you set aside a sum for tips in your daily spending money, keep it in small notes, and decide at the end of each guide's day or at the end of the trip. Read more about the people who guide our trips, our private car and driver service, and how money works in India, from cash and cards to UPI for foreign visitors.