Tipping in India

Tipping in India is appreciated and never compulsory. Nobody will chase you for a tip, and if the service was poor, leaving nothing is perfectly fine. Where it matters is in the small, everyday moments: the porter who carried your bags up three floors, the driver who waited an extra hour at the fort, the guide who made the temple make sense.

Two things are worth knowing before the first restaurant bill. A service charge is not a tip you owe: by law it is optional. And small notes are everything, because a ₹500 note is an awkward way to say thank you.

On 4 July 2022 India's Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) issued guidelines on service charge in hotels and restaurants. They say:

• A hotel or restaurant may not add service charge automatically or by default to the bill.
• It may not collect service charge under any other name.
• It may not force you to pay it, and must clearly tell you it is voluntary, optional and at your discretion.
• It may not refuse entry or service because you won't pay it.
• Service charge may not be added to the food bill with GST charged on the total.

On 28 March 2025 the Delhi High Court upheld the guidelines, holding that mandatory service charge is contrary to law and that the CCPA may enforce them. Restaurant associations have appealed to a division bench of the same court (as reported in the press in April 2025), but enforcement continues: in January and July 2026 the CCPA ordered restaurants to refund service charges, change their billing software and pay penalties of up to ₹50,000.

So what do you do? If a service charge is on the bill and you are happy with the service, pay it, and there's no need to tip on top. If you don't want to pay it, ask for it to be removed. If there is no service charge, 5–10% in cash for good service (the India GO team's guide, not a rule) is a warm gesture, handed to the server or left in the bill folder.

The routine from the CCPA's own guidance.

Rough guides from the India GO team, not rules. Round amounts in small notes work best.

At a temple, money is a donation, not a tip. Leaving something at the shrine is part of a visit, even ten rupees; nobody measures it.

If you want a puja (a ritual offering) performed for you, arrange it with the temple's priest (pandit or pujari) beforehand, for a sum agreed in advance; in the India GO team's experience ₹51–101 is a respectable donation. Be wary of the other version: on the ghats of Varanasi and Pushkar someone puts flowers in your hand "as a gift", leads you to the water for a blessing and then demands money, sometimes "for each family member". Don't take anything from anyone's hands. Reaching the ghats and the lake is always free.

Shoes come off at the temple door. At big temples there is usually a shoe stand or cloakroom, and an expensive pair is safer there than in the heap by the steps. Practice varies from place to place: look for a posted rate, and if there is none, a small note to the attendant when you collect your shoes is a courteous thank-you.