DHA has the cheapest tippers

Unless they meet the customer face-to-face, delivery boys rarely get tipped.


Sonia Malik May 29, 2011

LAHORE:


When Nasir Hussain gets a delivery order at his restaurant for an address in Cavalry Ground or Sui Gas Society, his five delivery boys are all keen to go. But when an order comes in for an address in the Defence Housing Authority, none of them volunteer.


“They get better tips outside Defence,” says Hussain, who has been running the Chinese restaurant in Y Block for four years.

“The posher the area, the less likely you are to get tipped,” says Faraz, who has been working as the only “rider” – the local term for motorcycle delivery boys   at the Subway franchise in Garden Town for over four years. Sometimes he also makes sandwiches and runs the till.

Faraz’s basic pay is Rs25 an hour. He works 12 hours a day, seven days a week, taking home about Rs9,000 per month. “It’s not enough to keep things running smoothly at home, but I don’t have time to look for a better job,” he says.

Faraz depends on tips to supplement his income, but they can be hard to come by. He says that on good days he can make up to Rs300 in tips, on bad days at least Rs50.

Riders at the KFC franchise next door to Subway say they do not expect a tip when they have to make a delivery in Model Town or Garden Town. “We feel lucky if we get a tip,” says Gul, one of the five riders at this KFC branch.

“Sometimes we will get tipped Rs20 or Rs30 if the order is to a far-off place such as Johar Town or Jail Road,” says Yasir, another of the KFC riders.

Pretty much all the delivery boys agree on why they don’t get tips in the posh areas: even if the customer does send out a tip, it gets pocketed by middlemen, ie, household staff. “Servants or guards answer the door and they only pay the amount on the bill. Not a rupee extra,” says Yasir of his typical delivery experience.

The delivery boy profession has grown over the last ten years alongside the fast food business in Lahore. The big franchises employ large numbers of young men as riders. Yasir says their minimum education requirement for applicants is matriculation. And most require that they own their own motorbikes.

KFC pays Rs30 to Rs40 per hour, depending on the experience of the candidate. They work from the afternoon until 1am, when the restaurant closes. Yasir says he works 10-hour shifts.

Riders at KFC and McDonald’s get assigned certain areas to cover and get compensated for fuel costs at the end of the month. “They also have an area where they can sit and relax in, unlike me,” says Faraz of Subway.

The major complaints they get about orders, say the delivery boys, is lateness. A manager at a McDonald’s branch says they are busiest each day at night, and during the year in winter. “We get more orders in winter ... 8-10 in 20 minutes or less,” he says.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30th, 2011.

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