Comment by larrywright | Hacker News Reader

Comment by larrywright | Hacker News Reader

This is over 94,000 Rupees. That is a huge amount of money in India. I'm not sure most people realize the cost of living difference between the two countries.

Case in point: I was in India (Chennai) for a week on business a couple of months ago. During that time (M-F), I had a driver who was dedicated to me. He took me to the office and back, and took me anywhere else I wanted to go. This wasn't a taxi service, he had nobody else to shuttle around. When I was working, he just waited around for me to call. The cost for all of this? US $25, for the entire week. That's what I paid the car service, so he's getting some amount less than that.

All this to say: These sorts of comparisons are not as dramatic as they seem.

That seems absurdly low. I stay in Chennai and typical taxi rates run upwards of 18Rs per KM (approx 0.48US$ per mile). I agree there is a considerable difference in the cost of living, but what you likely paid the guy was a tip for the entire week. Even assuming the car, gas etc. was paid by your company, the amount still seems low for a driver's fee for a week. My dad's driver makes 11,000INR a month.

94,000 Rupees is a lot of money in India but it is not so huge either. A small local doctor in a city will make around that money in a month.

(ps: If you actually had a guy driving you for 25$ in Chennai, do pass me his number. I will happily use him.)

Yes, $25 per week is too low. Heck, I recently paid that amount for a 60km trip in Chennai ( 2 hours of travel )

94,000 Rs. - for comparison sake, my motor bike costed me Rs.99,000.

It is definitely a high amount for many Indians, but the average middle class person might be able to pay it in India.

All I know is what was on the hotel bill (Westin). It's possible that they had negotiated a rate with the service. I did tip, based on the guideline I was told, about 50 rupees per day.

$25 (approx. 1500 Rs by today's exchange rates) for car and driver for a week is implausibly low in a major Indian city. Depending on the particulars of the car etc, you could get this deal for a day or two, definitely not five.

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