New Delhi: The Central Consumer Protection Authority has issued a notice in its app to ride the highly platform Uber on its ‘Advance Tip’ feature, which is called an immoral and inappropriate trade practice to avail the fast service. Sources said that the Authority is also looking at similar practices by other platforms like Rapido and Ola.Announcing the action of the authority following complaints from users, Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Wednesday, “The practice of ‘advance tip’ is related to depth. Forcing or naked users to pay a tip in advance for rapid service is unethical and exploitative. Such action comes under improper business practice. CCPA has said that CCPA has given the answer to the Uber.Consumer Affairs Secretary and CCPA Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare told TOI that such practice “exploitation of consumer choice”. He said, “This is an inappropriate trade practice and manipulation of customer’s choice. We are monitoring other platforms in the region that have such features.”Joshi said that the appreciation given after the distribution of tips service should be a voluntary gesture, not some payments. The minister said, “Fairness, transparency and accountability should be retained in all customers interactions.”Although Uber announced a new feature of “upfront tipping” in his app in November 2024, to allow the riders to “add a tip before a trip, encourage fast matches and promote the driver’s earnings, especially during peak hours”, it was introduced a month ago. The ride hyling app claims that “a driver may be more likely to accept this ride, if you add a tip. Your driver receives 100% of the tip. If you add a tip now, you cannot change it later ”.There was no response to Uber on CCPA action.Industry sources said the practice has become an industry criteria and “upfront tipping” is introduced in various ways. One of the Ride-Heling platforms introduced it in 2023 and another bike and taxi aggregators have been doing this for more than a year.
