Delhi not too generous with tipping, Mumbai No.1: TripAdvisor

When it comes to tipping, the intent in India has declined by 10% this year with the capital city Delhi emerging as the least generous in shelling out additional amount for services, whereas Mumbai has emerged the most giving, says a survey.

However, it found that Indians tip more when vacationing abroad and the intent goes up for 30.7% respondents when on foreign holidays.

"India's tipping intent has fallen by a sharp margin of 10% from 97% in 2013, to 87% in 2014," TripAdvisor India Country Manager Nikhil Ganju said.

"This is probably in line with the increasing trend of service charges being included in the bill, which is supported by survey data indicating that almost 60% of respondents would not tip if a service charge was included in the bill," he said.

The TripAdvisor survey took inputs from more than 2,000 respondents from India on tipping habits, preferences and patterns when holidaying in India and abroad.

While 45.7% respondents tip for services often, 42% ensure that they tip staff for its services always, the survey revealed.

Helpfulness of service seems to be the key driver of tipping with the most respondents indicating that this factor motivates them to tip, both at hotels and restaurants.

When it comes to tipping intent across key cities, the survey revealed that Delhi is the poorest with tipping and only 35% respondents in capital city always tip.

"Delhi came out as the most tight-fisted with 38% respondents saying they only tip if the staff goes an extra mile," the report found.

The survey revealed that this year Mumbai emerged as the most generous tipping city with 46% of respondents saying they 'always' tip on holiday leaving last year's most generous city Chennai (41%) behind.