We tip about the same as you Sam. At the shacks we might tip 10% or round up the bill if it's fairly close.

Overtipping I think creates problems for future visitors. It's all very well saying it's only a pound or whatever but in my opinion you have to tip according to the local economy, not what we think is cheap at home.

In Goa people are working on building sites for 100 rupees a day and backbreaking work at that.

We usually round up the bill in shacks and restaurants and tip the taxi driver as we go along. We usually give him the exact fare but if we don't have the right money don't bother with the change as he does spend a lot of time hanging around for us particularly late in the evening. we have a good idea of how much we have tipped him by the end of the holiday and give him a bigger tip on the last day.

brenliz, thats what we do as well, if the service has been really good or they have really gone out of their way, then we give a bit more
J

I am with Sam

Papa

Its a difficult one, I tend to think oh well its only a pound, thats usually at the beginning of the holiday - luckily my partner is a bit more careful with money and he would generally give as Sam suggests

Hi
Did the children begging in Slumdog Millionaire get to keep the money?
Do the employees in Goa who get handed a tip get to keep the money?

Tips of a few rupees won't be a problem, but in a corrupt country like India it could easily be a condition of employment that tips that get handed out by the walking cash-machine-foreign tourists (anything over Rs.100 is relatively speaking a £50-note tip) could be demanded to be handed-over to the guys running the show...

Which means that everybody at the bottom of the employment chain could be expected to generate huge tips as part of their employment...
Which would foul up the easy-going nature of Goa.
(Britain is a corrupt country too - looking at some of our MPs. Easy money...)