Money, Costs and Tipping in Mumbai

Travel Essentials · Discover Mumbai Team · 20 September 2026 · 4 min read

Mumbai is India’s most expensive city, and still remarkably good value by the standards of most visitors’ home countries. A superb lunch can cost ₹200 or ₹4,000 depending on where you sit down, and the same is true of hotels, taxis and almost everything else. The trick is knowing which end of the scale you are on.

Currency and getting cash

The currency is the Indian rupee (₹). Notes in everyday use are ₹10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500. The ₹2,000 note was withdrawn from circulation in 2023; it is still technically legal tender but can only be exchanged at Reserve Bank offices, so do not accept one. ATMs are everywhere and take foreign cards. Withdrawal limits are typically ₹10,000 per transaction, and your home bank’s fees will matter more than the local ones. Change only a small amount at the airport; rates in the city are better.

Keep small notes. Taxis, autos, street stalls and temple donation boxes all run on ₹10s, 20s and 50s, and breaking a ₹500 note at a chai stall is an imposition.

Cards and UPI

Cards are accepted at mid-range and upmarket restaurants, hotels, malls and most shops with a fixed address. They are not accepted at street stalls, in most taxis and autos, or by most market vendors.

What has replaced cash for locals is UPI, the QR-code payment system that works from a phone. You will see the QR square at every stall and in many taxis. It normally needs an Indian bank account and phone number, but foreign visitors can get a prepaid UPI One World wallet from authorised issuers at airports, hotels and money-exchange counters, with a passport and valid visa. Ask at the forex counters when you land. You can load up to ₹50,000 a month, then scan and pay like a local, and unspent money can be sent back to your card when you leave. It is worth the ten minutes of setup.

What things cost

Approximate, in 2026, per person:

Item	Typical cost
Vada pav or a plate of bhelpuri from a stall	₹20–80
Cutting chai	₹10–20
Thali at a canteen (Golden Star Thali, Samrat)	₹300–600
Lunch at a good mid-range restaurant	₹800–1,500
Dinner at a top restaurant (Trishna, The Bombay Canteen)	₹2,500–5,000
Tasting menu at the very top (Masque, Ekaa)	₹5,000–10,000
Cocktail at a good bar	₹700–1,200
Local train, second class	₹5–30
Taxi across South Mumbai	₹100–200
App cab from the main airport to Colaba	₹600–1,000
Museum entry (CSMVS, foreign adult)	₹700
Elephanta ferry, return	about ₹260, plus ₹600 cave entry for foreign visitors

GST is added to restaurant bills: 5% at ordinary restaurants, and 18% at restaurants inside hotels whose rooms cost ₹7,500 a night or more.

Service charge is a separate matter. Since 2022, consumer protection guidelines have barred restaurants from adding a service charge automatically or by default, and in March 2025 the Delhi High Court upheld them: a service charge is voluntary. Some places still print one on the bill. You are entitled to ask for it to be removed, and if you choose to pay it, no further tip is expected.

Tipping

India does not have a strong tipping culture in the American sense, but Mumbai’s service economy runs on small gratuities and they are appreciated.

Restaurants: if there is no service charge on the bill, 5–10% in cash is generous. At a street stall or canteen, nothing is expected.
Taxis and autos: round up to the nearest ₹10 or ₹20. No percentage.
App cabs: the app offers a tip; ₹20–50 for a long ride is kind, not required.
Hotel porters: ₹50–100 per bag at a good hotel.
Housekeeping: ₹100–200 per night, left on the last day.
Guides: ₹300–500 for a half-day walk, more if they were excellent.
Temples and shrines: a small note in the donation box; ₹10–50 is normal.

Bargaining

Fixed-price shops, anything with a till and printed price tags, do not bargain, and it is rude to try. Markets and pavement stalls do, and expect you to. On Colaba Causeway, at Chor Bazaar or on Linking Road, a fair approach is to offer around 40–50% of the first price and settle somewhere near 60%. Keep it friendly. Walking away is the strongest move, and the seller will usually call you back. Never bargain at a food stall.

Things to watch for

Meter refusal: a taxi or auto driver who will not use the meter. Take the next one.
“It’s closed today”: a stranger near a major sight telling you it is shut and offering an alternative. It is not shut.
Ticket touts at the Gateway: buy Elephanta tickets at the official booth, not from anyone who approaches you.
Shortchanging: check your change; ₹10 and ₹20 notes look alike in dim light.

None of this is unique to Mumbai, and the city is, on the whole, honest with its visitors. Carry small notes, use the meter, set up UPI, and money will be the least of your concerns.