[TusharK]

The Meru cabs app now has an option which allows customers to offer cashless tips to the drivers.



At the end of every ride, the customer gets a notification to rate the experience with the option to tip the driver. Customers can choose between Rs. 10, Rs. 20 and Rs. 50, however the app selects 'No Tip' as the default option. The selected tip amount is deducted from the customer's mobile wallet linked to the Meru App.

According to Meru, the tip option was added to the app after the company received requests from customers who were willing to tip the driver as a token of appreciation.

Meru operates in 24 cities across India. The company offers local as well as outstation services and point-to-point as well as hourly rental packages. Meru offers outstation services to 100 cities and over 7,000 destinations.

Link to Team-BHP News

[GTO]

That's pretty cool, although Meru has like 3 customers today, so this news is irrelevant overall .

Zomato has this option of tipping & Uber + Ola should come out with it ASAP. I'm a big tipping kind of guy and always leave a couple of bucks if the driver's service has been exceptional.

[hema4saran]

Cool. This would be easy for customers to tip the drivers. But drivers should also ensure that the tip amount is issued to them fully and not pocketed by Meru.

Uber have this option in US. So it will not take a long time for them to launch in Indian version apps.

[adithya.kp]

Nice feature. However, in my opinion manual tipping is much better than this kind of tipping.
Not boasting. But I always tip generously to uber/ola, zomato/swiggy, amazon/flipakrt or any service for that matter. Btw I noticed one interesting thing in uber/ola. Most of the riders ask the drivers for the exact change ( Even as low as 2 rupees . A few argue too. Let alone tipping).

[tilt]

Originally Posted by GTO

*SNIP* Uber + Ola should come out with it ASAP. I'm a big tipping kind of guy and always leave a couple of bucks if the driver's service has been exceptional.

My opinion is the complete opposite of yours. I believe this is NOT a good idea. Wherever Uber has allowed in-app tipping, it has worked out negatively for riders who either do not tip; or do not tip what the driver considers enough.

I have read on Uber driver-forums that many drivers have no qualms about rating riders 4 or less if they do not tip or do not tip to the driver's satisfaction. This drives the rider's rating down rapidly and makes it difficult for them to get rides.

India is NOT a tipping culture, like Europe/UK/Japan etc. are NOT tipping cultures either. Introducing this creates an entitled mentality with service-providers rather than being perceived as a token of appreciation. Optional tipping will become "mandatory" by entitlement.

Now, before someone says that service-providers are not being paid enough and therefore tips give them a bit ore income, let me ask this:

Are your fuel-station attendants or grocery-store clerks being paid enough? Do you tip them? If not, why not? The same argument should hold for them too, right?

I shall use the same argument against tipping in restaurants too. Staff are paid enough, tipping should not be needed. In North America, because of tipping, the wages of wait-staff has been made ridiculously low. This is not the case in India. Wait-staff are not paid any lower than fuel-station attendants or store-clerks or some other service-providers.

Cheers

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by tilt

Staff are paid enough, tipping should not be needed. In North America, because of tipping, the wages of wait-staff has been made ridiculously low.

My point as well. By providing the option to tip, they are essentially soliciting tips, making it the norm. While I don't mind tipping someone for good service, I wouldn't want service providers to make staff salaries bare minimum and pass on the onus of providing them a decent living to their customers.

[ValarMorghulis]

Not a big fan of tipping for cab service. I don't seem to understand the reason for it.
I get it for waiting tables, if you get your dish on time and the attendant is polite and easing your experience to a better one (which is why most fine dine places have service charge separately and explicitly mentioned). I get it for delivery personnel, esp. if it is rainy/ very hot or any other condition which deserves mention.
But this cab service tipping is a no go for me and it will have adverse effect on rider's rating by the driver. What next, tipping for the bus conductor?

I remember Frontier airlines introducing tipping for their air hostesses which sounds all kinda weird to me. In case of emergency, do the higher tipping passengers get access to exists first?

[Blue_Pearl]

Originally Posted by GTO

Zomato has this option of tipping & Uber + Ola should come out with it ASAP. I'm a big tipping kind of guy and always leave a couple of bucks if the driver's service has been exceptional.

Sorry, I beg to differ. Not at all agree with this American tipping culture, where it is not mandatory by law, but you are "expected" to tip about 10%-20% of your total bill. I have heard many stories where a non-tipper (mostly asians) getting a bad service once they revisit the same place.

Now talking about the cabs in India, last weekend, I was charged ridiculously high by Uber (about Rs. 1000 for 36 km two way) in Pune, the reason being surged pricing. Now I don't know how much of that landed in the driver's pocket, but I am sure it must have been more than normal. So he already earned more money than usual, I do not see any reason to tip him. As some fellow members have already mentioned , we do not want this to be a "New Norm", where a driver will rate you low if you do not tip him, and hence you will face problems getting your next ride.

[catchjyoti]

Not in favor of this tipping culture at all. It then becomes an expectation. And people who do not tip start getting inferior service or at least disappointed stares. Also, employers should pay enough so that tips are not needed.

[alpha1]

I am also not in favor of the tipping.
The reasons are captured above by TILT and LIBRANOF1987.

There is one more reason though:
The amount that you tip is typically at your discretion dependent on the money at your disposal (although in the great united states of america it is like mandatory hafta vasooli - there is no options in many case to give ZERO tip).
A millionaire certainly can tip Rs 100, whereas a student may not be able to tip anything more than a figure that round's up to next denomination.

Everything appears to be fine till you understand that the person receiving the tip (driver or waiter or attendant) is the same person. And how he evaluates each tip and the tipper ...

[Storm2.0]

I feel that conveying gesture of appreciation verbally is much better than tipping. I feel tipping any service provider is like insulting and harming his/her dignity. Gestures like offering chips, biscuits or chocolates to hardworking drivers is a more dignified way showing your respect for someone instead of just through some few 10 rupees on his face. He's not a beggar. Infact nowadays in Bangalore even road side beggars show discontentment even if you handover just a few rupees to them.

[GJ01]

Agree with the large set of people posting against getting tipping.

Was in US last week and hailed Uber and Lyft. At the end of trips you get an option of tipping the driver before you leave them a rating. Was getting 5 $ off on my rides in Lyft on some promo they were running, so passed that 5 $ off to the drivers as tips.

But I wouldnt do that in India.

@ Moderators: Can we put a poll asking if members are in favor of or against tipping cabs "in India".

[Eddy]

I see the obvious advantage in tipping.

But Uber also rates its riders, basis the feedback from the drivers. The rating will now be directly proportional to the tip you leave, unless the cab companies do not reveal the tip amount before the rating is recorded.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by tilt

Are your fuel-station attendants or grocery-store clerks being paid enough? Do you tip them?

I do, actually. Like I said, I'm a big tipping guy and am always tipping around. Including delivery boys who come home, fuel pump staff, domestic help in my house, the cook, watchmen etc. I drive my family up the wall with the way I tip.

The rare time that I don't tip is when service charges are added to the restaurant bill (which is the norm in most Mumbai restaurants today). But even there at times, if someone has bent over backward to serve my table, I'll leave a tip.

Wherever Uber has allowed in-app tipping, it has worked out negatively for riders who either do not tip; or do not tip what the driver considers enough.

I have read on Uber driver-forums that many drivers have no qualms about rating drivers 4 or less if they do not tip or do not tip to the driver's satisfaction. This drives the rider's rating down rapidly and makes it difficult for them to get rides.

Hmmmm, you make a compelling argument. As much of a tipper as I am, I'd probably not want it for Uber now, ONLY because of the rider rating issue you mentioned. It should be OPTIONAL, and shouldn't become expected. Like say, it is in Zomato (where I also tip in food orders). Or drivers can see the tip amount after rating the rider?

Originally Posted by GJ01

@ Moderators: Can we put a poll asking if members are in favor of or against tipping cabs "in India".

Adding

[pedrolourenco]

I do tip wherever tipping is a norm. However I am against the concept of tipping. Every person who is getting paid to do a service is expected to do it well for the price he/she charges or gets a salary for. The concept of tipping encourages them not to perform well unless tipped. The concept of "Service Charge" in restaurants in nice but would be better if they just incorporated that percentage in the price of the item itself. Remember the pre-MRP days when we had "Local Taxes Extra" and no one knew how much those taxes were. Same with tipping, how to calculate the amount of tip.
The concept of tipping started during WWII when soldiers wanted to be served first. The would pay the waiters in advance to get their orders on a priority. TIP stands for Time in Preference.