Only 3-5% of Indian delivery orders receive tips: Report

Tips contribute only marginally to the incomes of India’s food delivery and quick-commerce workers, despite platform operators’ assurances that these are passed through in full and without deductions.

The issue drew attention this week after Eternal Ltd chief executive Deepinder Goyal said in a social media post that delivery partners on Zomato and Blinkit receive 100% of customer tips, transferred instantly with the company absorbing payment processing costs. About 5% of Zomato orders and 2.5% of Blinkit orders include a tip, he said, responding to protests by a section of delivery workers demanding fair pay, dignity and workplace safety amid the push for ultra-fast delivery.

Industry data suggests that the limited role of tips reflects customer behaviour rather than platform policy. According to estimates cited by Moneycontrol, only around one in 25 users tips delivery partners on platforms such as Zomato and Swiggy. Although food delivery and quick-commerce platforms together serve roughly 30–35 million unique monthly transacting users, just 3–5% of customers leave a tip.

Even when tips are given, the amounts are small. Industry executives say tip typically range between Rs 15 and Rs 25 per order, adding little to overall earnings. For most delivery partners, tips increase monthly income by only Rs 800–Rs 1,000, depending on the number of peak-hour or higher-value orders completed.

In aggregate, delivery workers are estimated to have earned no more than about Rs 150 billion in tips in calendar year 2025, a small share of the sector’s total transaction value, the report said.

Platform-level volumes underline the disparity. Swiggy processes about 280–300 million orders each quarter, but only 2–4.5% receive tips, translating into roughly 5–14 million tipped orders. Eternal, which handles around 340–380 million quarterly orders, records an estimated 8–17mn tipped orders over the same period.

The modest contribution from tips contrasts with the broader earnings pressures faced by delivery workers.

According to TeamLease Services, a full-time delivery partner in a metropolitan area typically earns a gross monthly income of Rs 20,000–Rs 30,000, with higher payouts possible during peak demand. Food delivery workers generally earn Rs 50–Rs 70 per order, rising to Rs 100–Rs 120 during peak hours or incentive campaigns, while quick-commerce delivery partners earn around Rs 40–Rs 50 per order.

However, net earnings are eroded by fuel costs, mobile data expenses and vehicle maintenance. Workers say base pay for deliveries within a five-kilometre radius ranges between Rs 20 and Rs 50.

Several delivery partners also report a decline in base payouts in recent months. Per-order pay that earlier stood at Rs 40–Rs 45 has, in some cases, fallen to Rs 15–Rs 20, increasing dependence on incentives and heightening income volatility.

As platforms intensify competition around faster delivery and efficiency, workers argue that while tips may be transparent and fully transferred, they remain too infrequent and too small to offset declining base pay and rising operational pressures.