[gpunj]

Voted Yes. As pointed out by GTO, Zomato/Swiggy, etc., have this feature already and they never ask/badger for a tip.

[PrasannaDhana]

Voted Yes.

I tip cab drivers, always, Even if the experience was ordinary. I also have some conversations with them about their car, nativity and stuff in general. It makes them happy.

We may now be in a position of professional/financial advantage, but to connect with a fellow human and to try to make his life a little better, I find this as a way.

A 30/50 rupee tip may not make much difference, but to know another stranger treats you with respect and is concerned about your cab/life makes a difference.

I don't care if this encourages tipping culture or not. This is what feels right to my heart and I always will continue to do.

Same goes with online food delivery people too (it's just now that swiggy has come up with tipping option in their app). I have always tipped the swiggy delivery personnel. And every tip is followed by a hearty "Thank you" from me.

And this goes even if the service is not "exceptional" or "immaculate". There is something bigger in us,- Empathy!. Maybe the guy is a newbie at the job or may be he is going through some crisis personally. We have all screwed up in our jobs, haven't we?

Moreover if the service is bad, I will also make it a point that he knows that he is not doing a good job. May embarass him at the moment, but hey, he has gotten a genuine feedback over which he can work upon.

May seem like I am lecturing, but quoting Gary Vee here- "Kindness is the ultimate strength". What goes around WILL come around

[Bh.P]

Voted No.
I would tip out of my own will. But when it is formalized via the app, the chances are the driver will expect it to be a norm. And if I don't tip, he will rate me poorly for not tipping.

[wheeledwanderer]

100% correct. None of us at office gets tipped for doing our work A tip should be voluntary and should not be enforced.

Ola should have put a functionality for a reason. May be this is to do a study on the drivers to see if the traveler was happy with the service of the driver or if he needs etiquette lessons?

End of the day it is up to us to tip or not.

I remember that in US it is mandatory to tip the waiter in the hotel (10% of the bill) because they work on minimum wage. Else they would fight with you.

[TheCatalyst]

Voted Yes.

Even though it's origins stem from the English in the old times, with the unofficial meaning (I think) which is "To Insure Promptitude", it is very much treated differently in various cultures. Some may even treat it as wrong (Japan?). Predominantly, it is followed in the west with US leading the race with astronomical 15% and above as tipping culture.

Personally I feel there a few pros and cons when we try to implement it in our country.

Pros
- It does "Insure Promptitude" in most of the "repeat" cases. This is the usual line of thinking, since we tip towards the end, its natural to think that we may only reap the benefit of it if we repeat the service and the recipient manages to remember us.
- Its an extra income to already low levels of per-capita income which blue collared jobs have in our country.
- It may increase productivity where this additional income automatically gets linked to how one performs or provides a service.

Cons
- There is a thin line between tipping 'adequately' and saying 'keep the change'. Someone pointed out that it is better to not tip at all in that case, rather than adding to the insult. With no agreed percentage to tip, it boils down to personal perception of what a good tip is. For some, it is Rs.10, for some even Rs.100 is less.
- We do not know which every instance demands a tip. Lets face it. It puts the customer in an uncomfortable position to come to a conclusion. If the person appears 'well-to-do', would we go ahead and tip? Worse is, if we do not have the exact change.
- Next is, would the in-app tip really get passed on to them (drivers). Would there be a government tax and commissions levied? Better to tip in cash then? Escapes the income tax net in that case.
- There is a thin line when tipping could become a 'bribe' in certain instances.

Personally I do tip (above Rs.50) if the total service was for a longer duration, be it drivers, hotel staff, mechanics and any other service where one went out of the way to deliver it. Do look out for a 'service charge' included in the bill though.

[TorqueSteer]

Irrespective of the company, I never pay any tips/donations to the company. Its just that I don't think then entire tip will go to the person I tipped. Company will cut it off as far as I know. So whenever I tip, I tip it directly to the person. In Ola's case, I tip the driver in cash whenever I have to but not to Ola directly. Same with Zomato or Swiggy.
If the company desires, they can cut a bit of profits and give the same to their employees but No, they don't. They won't let a penny out of their pocket but expect customer to shell out from their wallets. Corporates !

[neeravnaik]

Yes
People in service industry are doing a very difficult job. Imagine being in front of your clients all the time. Imagine the stress if your client was monitoring you while you were currently WFH (something our poor teachers are facing right now).

Especially in this time where just doing your job makes your health at much greater risk. These people are in unorganized sectors working as independent entity without much protection or things like insurance.

These are my reasons for tipping service workers whenever possible.

[Fan@Automotive]

Voted Yes.

I have tipped drivers, in all my drives. But, I make sure I give them a feedback after payment, irrespective of it being either negative or positive. I pay only by cash and do not wish to pay the company directly.

Some of them open up and tell their plight as to how these corporate companies hold back payments / reduce their incentives at every possible opportunity.

I am not very sure about how mandatory, paying tips at restaurants is, in other countries. What I follow here is, if the bill has a service tax component, I refrain from tipping, else I tip.

In any case, I generally round it off to the nearest 50 or 100 rs. I depends on how good the service has made me feel in that particular instance.

However, , tipping before placing the order, is a good idea. Its just that trying this out might take a while, courtesy COVID.

[AZT]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

They're smart. They're transferring the responsibility of ensuring drivers earn a sustainable, respectable living from their P&L to their customers. They can continue with low fares and fat commissions while the drivers see their earning dip and expect/hope for tips to make the job worthwhile.

Exactly this. Had been getting notifications from Uber everyday saying donate to support our drivers etc. I would do that to a Kaali Peeli driver / local delivery guy but when multi billion dollar businesses (Uber, Ola, Zomato etc) try to use sympathy to get us to support their employees, that's a bit much. They use this 'variable pay' to justify lower commissions / wages.

Off topic but I have started calling restaurants directly asking if they deliver, the pricing is always the same and they save on the commission paid per order to apps. This and buying groceries from small neighborhood shops are great ways to support our local communities. Now these delivery guys definitely deserve a tip.

[momsonlydriver]

Since I only use Uber and get my bills paid via card every trip to avoid hassle of carrying cash in hand. If my driver is really sweet and very good to me (goes out of my way to help me relocate the trip route) I tip them big. If a driver is very rude and gives a really bad eye (which happens often) I don't feel the need to tip.

[samee_arian]

Mod note: Post edited to fix Quotes.

Again, personal opinion but if I do tip, (except the guy filling tyre at the fuel pump, that's a fixed 10) I tip a minimum of 100. I want the person delivering the service to know I actually appreciate it, rather than just satisfy some entitled personal ego. If I don't feel the service to be worth the 100, I'd rather not tip at all, than insult the person by giving back a few rupees.

Totally agree with you on this and had a personal experience which really made sense to me. We had been to Thailand on a island hopping tour and the host managing the speed boat was a really nice and entertaining guy. At the end of the tour while we were heading back to marina, he announced that he is sending a hat to collect tips and it is totally voluntary, but he also announced that if you really feel like tipping, to ensure it is a worthy amount and just not any change. He would rather be happy with a simple thank you with a smile than to be receiving pittance as tip. As they say, do it like you mean it and same should be true to tipping.

As far as tipping an Ola guy or any service for that matter, if once feels that some serving has gone over an above his regular duty and made the experience nice, deserves to be tipped, but nothing beats a good smile with kind words of appreciation and a THANK YOU.

[ZenMaster]

Drivers already have been using a work around so that they dont have to pay Ola/Uber their fat share.

They accept your ride and come to the location promptly, then if the distance is good, they'll pick you up and after 2 mins, ask you to cancel the trip and pay the amount shown in the app directly to them in cash or on PayTm. When you tell them that it has already been paid online, they start telling you it will get it back etc.

Gullible people who don't know that if the trip has started, then you are not going to get anything back unless you complain on time. By the time they realize, probably after a few days, all this it would be too late, and ola/uber won't heed your complaint.

Forcing you to cancel the ride once the trip has started and selling believable lies about getting ones money back ensures that their rating is not affected negatively either.

Some of my friends have lost money this way.

Uber doesn't even have proper customer service.

[DrCar]

Voted No

I strictly don't like tipping. Ola and Uber drivers know what they are doing and how much will they be paid for to get the job done.
Over a period of time, drivers will always expect a tip from the customer.
What if we strike a good conversation with the driver and don't tip him after the ride is over. This sure will change the good impression that you have generated about yourself during the ride.

Slowly and surely, this cab aggregators will start accumulating data of yours and feed it to their drivers. So, if you are a non-tipper kind of person, then the driver will know beforehand about it and he won't hesitate to cancel your ride with some pretext or other.

[Tassem]

A bit hurt to see some of the scathing remarks against tipping. Always remember that without these people to do the heavy lifting, we'd be left without many of the privileges we take for granted.

I've always been a believer in tipping because all things said and done, the work they do is incredibly taxing on health - both mental and physical. Not to mention trying to support a family in those meagre earnings. I cannot imagine the trauma of being a cab driver or delivery person in a city like bangalore where the traffic is so poorly managed. Or for that matter trying to eek out a living in a metro with that income.

I tip a lot more these days because delivery executives are literally risking their lives for those of us who have the privilege of social distancing or working from homes.

American culture or not, if you have it in your heart, do tip a tenner or 20. There isn't much you can do with that money these days anyways. The other day I tipped 100 rupees to an Amazon delivery guy who has been delivering stuff for me regularly. He usually just calls me and tells me he's leaving it with the mailroom and please collect it when convenient. Always courteous. Never a trouble. Never asked for ratings or anything at all. I asked him to wait a minute and went down. He just lit up. He may not need the money. But telling him what he's doing is important and appreciated is basic human courtesy.

Also, pls make it a point to rate. Ratings go a long way in helping everyone - including customers. We often show such rigour in highlighting negative experiences with ratings and social rants etc. Should show the same fervour to rate positive experiences as well.

[MCR]

Though I am not averse to tipping in general, I have voted "NO" in this case. The reasons are as below;

1. The company is trying to push the responsibility of "maintaining" the eco system on users!
2. OLA could have reduced their "commission" part to ensure an increase in drivers "take home".
3. Most of the OLA cabs are down right filthy and the drivers are goons. If you see a battered OLA car, in most cases it also means the driver is careless and uncouth.
4. Safety is not guaranteed!
6. Have got cheated by a OLA driver who handed over counterfeit currency (Rs. 500/-) as change. Upon complaining to OLA, they did nothing.

Will not use app based Taxis for a long time to come..