CCPA fines Ola ₹10 lakh, orders it to drop pre-ride tip feature

NEW DELHI: The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a ₹10 lakh penalty on ANI Technologies, which operates Ola, for soliciting additional payments from passengers before their rides. The authority termed the practice an unfair trade practice and a dark pattern under consumer protection regulations.

The CCPA has also directed Ola to immediately discontinue its pre-ride ‘tip’ or ‘add-on’ feature, which suggested that passengers could improve their chances of securing a ride faster by paying extra. The company had renamed the feature from ‘tip’ to ‘add-on’, but the authority found that its purpose and functioning remained unchanged.

Messages displayed while the app searched for drivers included, “Adding a tip might help increase the chances of getting a ride faster” and “Tip now to boost the chances of getting a ride sooner.” The authority said these prompts could mislead passengers into believing that additional payments would influence ride allocation.

Ola’s booking data for June 1‑15, 2026, showed that requests with add-ons were accepted less frequently than those without them. In Delhi, the acceptance rate was 38 per cent for requests carrying an add-on, compared with 62 per cent for those without one. In Bengaluru, the figures were 40 and 68 per cent, while Mumbai recorded 39 and 68 per cent, respectively.

The CCPA observed that the app’s messages contradicted the company’s position that additional payments did not affect driver allocation.

The authority said collecting tips before completing a service converted voluntary gratuities into pre-service payments. It noted that Clause 14.15 of the Motor Vehicles Aggregators Guidelines, 2025, permits tipping only after a journey is completed.

The CCPA further classified the prompts as ‘confirm shaming’ under the Dark Patterns Guidelines, 2023. It flagged pre-set payment amounts, the absence of an option to close the prompt and messages such as “Generous Add On!” as features encouraging passengers to pay extra.