Tip Calculator

Two hundred and seventy-five each

A bill of ₹1,000 with a 10% tip split between 4 people comes to ₹275 each — a ₹100 tip on a ₹1,100 total.

Tip = bill × rate ÷ 100 Total = bill + tip Per person = total ÷ number of people

Tipping in India

Norms differ substantially from the US-style expectations that dominate online guidance, and the Indian position is genuinely more relaxed:

Restaurants — 5–10% is customary where service charge has not been added. Anything above 10% is generous rather than expected.

Where service charge is already on the bill, an additional tip is not expected at all.

Cafes and casual dining — rounding up, or nothing.

Food delivery — optional; the app's suggested amounts are set by the platform rather than by convention.

Cabs and auto-rickshaws — rounding up is normal. A metered fare of ₹185 becomes ₹200.

Hotel staff — ₹50–₹100 for porterage or housekeeping is customary at mid-range and above.

Salons and spas — 10% is common.

Service charge is not a tip, and it is not mandatory

This is the most practically useful thing on this page.

Many Indian restaurants add a service charge of 5–10% to the bill. It is levied by the establishment, not passed to staff by any legal requirement, and — importantly — the Central Consumer Protection Authority has issued guidelines stating it cannot be added automatically or made compulsory. Restaurants may not collect it by default, may not add it under another name, and may not deny service over a refusal to pay it.

You are entitled to ask for it to be removed. If a restaurant refuses, the avenues are the National Consumer Helpline, the consumer commission, or a complaint to the CCPA.

Note that GST applies to the service charge if it is charged, so refusing it also removes the tax on it.

Splitting a bill fairly

Equal split — simplest, and fair when everyone ate similarly.

Itemised split — each pays for what they ordered, plus a proportionate share of tax and tip. Fairer where consumption differed substantially, particularly where some drank alcohol and others did not, since alcohol is often the largest single line.

Proportional tip — tip in proportion to each person's share of the bill rather than splitting it equally, which follows naturally from an itemised split.

Rounding up the per-person amount is the usual convention for handling the paise, with whoever pays the bill absorbing the difference.

Reading the result

The per-person figure assumes an equal split including the tip. For a group where consumption differed materially, the itemised approach is worth the extra minute.

Note that the tip is computed on the bill amount you enter. Whether that is pre-tax or post-tax is a choice — tipping on the pre-tax amount is the more common convention, since GST is not part of the service you are rewarding.

Common mistakes

Assuming service charge goes to staff. There is no requirement that it does.

Paying service charge believing it is compulsory. It is not, and it can be declined.

Applying US tipping norms. 5–10% is the Indian convention, not 18–20%.

Tipping on the GST-inclusive total. Convention is to tip on the bill before tax.

Splitting equally when consumption differed sharply. Alcohol in particular distorts an equal split.