Two Reddit posts centred on a ₹5 tip request by a Zomato delivery agent have gone viral, triggering a wider discussion on tipping, customer expectations, and the realities of gig work in India.
The debate began after a woman shared a post on Reddit titled “Weird request from Zomato delivery man at 12:00 am.”
She said she had ordered a cold coffee around 11:30 pm and asked the delivery agent to leave it with the building’s security guard. After the delivery was completed, the agent called her again and asked for a ₹5 tip, saying he wanted to buy tea and did not have any digital balance.
The woman said the request made her uncomfortable, not because of the amount, but due to the manner in which it was made and the repeated calls after delivery. She questioned whether the agent was genuinely in need, whether it was a scam, or whether it was an attempt to earn additional points on the app. “I don’t mind tipping even ₹100 if someone is genuinely in need, but something felt off,” she wrote.
Around two days later, another Reddit post surfaced, written by the delivery agent involved in a similar incident. Titled “Today I almost destabilized the Indian economy,” the post used sarcasm to describe his experience delivering a cold coffee late at night and asking the customer for a ₹5 tip to buy tea.
The user wrote that his small request was blown out of proportion, joking that it had turned into “a possible scam, a social experiment, and a 900-word Reddit post.” He argued that customers readily pay surge fees or extra charges but become suspicious when a delivery worker asks directly for a small amount.
The posts sparked a flood of reactions online.
Many users supported the delivery agent, arguing that ₹5 is a negligible amount and that Zomato payouts are not always instantly accessible. Several shared personal experiences of offering water, tea, or snacks to delivery workers and said such interactions were normal and humane.
Others, however, cautioned against normalising tipping requests. Some users, including a self-identified delivery driver, warned that even small tips could shift responsibility from companies to customers and eventually lead to lower base pay for gig workers. They argued that repeated calls and a perceived sense of entitlement were valid reasons for concern.