Scams in India
 

Just got back from 2 weeks in New Delhi/Agra/Jaipur/Jodhpur/Pushkar - had a great time but experienced a few problems. Although we read Fodor's India cover to cover, I haven't seen these issues discussed, so thought I'd mention them here.

Foremost, we couldn't understand why each time we left our hotel all the taxi drivers dived upon us asking to drive us around - until, that is, we found out that taxi drivers get a cut of everything tourists buy from the local merchants. Several shop keepers admitted this to us after we had arrived at their store by foot. We also found a marble elephant in Agra absolutely identical to one we had purchased the day before for five times the price. (Price we paid at store taxi driver took us to: Rs. 1,250; price we paid at store we walked to ourselves: Rs. 250. We had the taxi driver return the over priced elephant and bought the less expensive one).

Still have one question about tipping, though: the Fodor's India guide says you should tip drivers of hired cars Rs. 50 - 100 per day. We hired a driver for 9 days and tipped him Rs. 1,200. He then asked for more money, saying that our tip wasn't sufficient. My husband gave him another Rs. 1,200. The driver did a normal amount of driving and we gave him several afternoons & evenings off. Any opinions on what we should have done and whether our original tip was on target or too low to begin with?

Our travel agent has recommended US $5 per day for drivers - works out to about RS 230 per day. Tipping is a matter of personal choice however. I don't know how I would have reacted to a driver asking for additional money but it kind of rubs me the wrong way.

Are you positive the elephant you bought( i.e. the less expensive one) is marble? My experience there taught me the less expensive stuff is chalk covered stone being sold as marble vs. the real deal.

Rs 1200 tip for 9 days would be considered more than appropriate in India. It is outrageous that he demanded more. You ought not to have relented. I strongly believe that a tip is not a right. In these situations, I usually assess other factors. Such as, was he demanding more or was he simply making a polite supplication? If the latter, then I would perhaps acquiesce, especially if he has rendered good service.

Badgering or asking for more tip money is not uncommon. If this was your 1st trip there perhaps you were not prepared for this. My advice is to not give more than what you feel is a fair sum, them walk away if more is demanded. Most of the time giving a fair tip WITH a sense of certainty or finality will stop a problem before it starts.

uh oh...u shouldn?t have given that extra money. Tip is expected, but cannot be demanded. As Indians, if I hire a car for about a week, I wud give a tip of about Rs 200 to 300, but normally I wud foot the drivers meal bills when he is with us. Actually I wud say 75 bucks a day is a good amount.
Yes - all the drivers get a cut frm the shops that they take u too, even I have got fleeced a bit the first time that I went to Jaipur, for a touristy visit with my brother who was visiting frm Florida.

No guidelines can be set for tips for drivers but generally it varies from USD 2/- to USD 6/- per day.
However if the driver has been taking you to rip off places and is then demanding more, you have overtipped him!