CCPA Fines Ola ₹10 Lakh For Advance Tipping Prompts

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has fined Ola, the parent company of ride-hailing platform Ola, ₹10 Lakh for misleading customers with its advance tipping feature. The consumer watchdog declared this practice to be an unfair trade practice and an unfair contract under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. Ola was directed to stop the practice immediately, pay the penalty within 15 days, and submit a compliance report within the same period.

The issue arose after customers were prompted to pay extra to increase their chances of getting a ride faster. A message on the app read, "Adding a tip might help increase the chances of getting a ride faster." Initially, customers were offered preset amounts ranging from ₹10 to ₹40, which later increased to as much as ₹140, with customers able to enter custom amounts up to ₹499.

However, Ola's data showed that drivers accepted a lower percentage of rides with add-ons compared to those without. Despite Ola's claims that the feature encouraged drivers to accept less attractive rides, the CCPA found that Ola's own data did not support this claim. The authority also noted that Ola changed the feature's name from 'tip' to 'add-on' in May 2025 but continued to display messages suggesting that additional payments could help customers get a ride faster.