CCPA notice to Uber over ‘advance tip’ feature for faster service, more under scanner

NEW DELHI: The Central Consumer Protection Authority has issued notice to trip hailing platform Uber over its ‘advance tip’ feature in its app for availing faster service, calling it an unethical and unfair commerce follow. The authority can also be wanting into comparable practices by different platforms equivalent to Rapido and Ola, sources mentioned.Announcing the authority’s motion following complaints from customers, client affairs minister Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday mentioned on X, “The practice of ‘advance tip’ is deeply concerning. Forcing or nudging users to pay a tip in advance for faster service is unethical and exploitative. Such actions fall under unfair trade practices. Tip is given as a token of appreciation not as a matter of right, after the service.” The CCPA has requested Uber to reply to the notice inside 15 days.Consumer affairs secretary and CCPA chief commissioner Nidhi Khare advised TOI that such follow leads to “exploiting consumer choice”. She added, “This is unfair trade practice and manipulating customer choice. We are keeping an eye on other platforms in this sector that have such features.”Joshi mentioned ideas needs to be a voluntary gesture of appreciation given after supply of service, not one thing paid upfront. “Fairness, transparency and accountability must be upheld in all customer interactions,” the minister mentioned.Though Uber had introduced the brand new feature of “upfront tipping” in its app in Nov 2024 to enable riders to “add a tip before a trip, encouraging faster matches and boosting driver earnings, especially during peak hours”, it was launched a month again. The trip hailing 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 can’t change it later”.There was no response from Uber on the CCPA motion.Industry sources mentioned the follow has turn out to be an business norm and “upfront tipping” is obtainable in numerous methods. One of the ride-hailing platforms launched this in 2023 and one other bike and taxi aggregator has been doing this for over a yr.