Why tipping remains rare on food delivery apps despite millions of monthly users

From weaving through traffic-clogged streets and braving harsh weather to racing against the clock for every order, food delivery riders shoulder an intense daily workload that often goes unseen. Long hours on the road, back-to-back deliveries and the constant pressure of ratings and timelines define their routine making every completed order a test of endurance as much as efficiency.

Even as food delivery platforms make tipping easy and transparent, very few customers actually do it. Industry experts estimate that only about 3–5 percent of users on apps such as Zomato and Swiggy tip their delivery partners, making gratuities a minor part of riders’ overall earnings. This is despite regular nudges during checkout and assurances that tips go entirely to delivery partners.

The Numbers Behind Tipping

Food delivery and quick commerce platforms collectively serve around 30–35 million unique monthly transacting users. In practical terms, this means roughly one in every 25 users leaves a tip. Several industry sources confirm that most users across platforms do not tip, and even when they do, the amounts are modest.

Tips typically range between Rs 15 and Rs 25 per order. For delivery partners who receive them consistently, this can translate to an additional Rs 800–1,000 per month. While the tipping rate is low, the sheer scale of users ensures that a sizeable number of people still tip overall.

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What Delivery Partners Earn

In 2025, average hourly earnings for Zomato delivery partners excluding tips rose to Rs 102, an increase of nearly 11 percent year-on-year. Most delivery partners work around seven hours a day across several weeks each year. After accounting for fuel and maintenance costs, monthly earnings can net around Rs 21,000 for those working close to 10-hour days for most of the month.

Across platforms, delivery partners earned an estimated Rs 150 crore in tips in calendar year 2025. Spread across more than six lakh riders, this works out to roughly Rs 2,500 per person annually.

Order Data Tells the Same Story

Tipping remains limited at the order level too. Only 2–4.5 percent of Swiggy’s 280–300 million quarterly orders receive tips. Eternal’s platforms, including Zomato and Blinkit, see a similar share among their 340–380 million quarterly orders.

A Small Boost, Not the Backbone

Platform executives stress that riders receive 100 percent of tips, transferred instantly, with companies absorbing payment gateway costs. Still, at an average of Rs 2.6 per hour in 2025, tips remain a supplement not the backbone of delivery partners’ income, underscoring that most earnings continue to come from hours worked rather than gratuities.