The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a penalty of ₹10 lakh on ANI Technologies Private Limited, which operates Ola, for misleading consumers into paying additional amounts to improve their chances of securing a ride.
In an order dated November 10, the CCPA held that Ola's practice of prompting customers to pay extra before a driver accepted their booking amounted to a misleading advertisement, unfair trade practice and unfair contract under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
Hence, it ordered the platform to stop the feature/ practice while also imposing a penalty on it.
The order was passed by Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare and Commissioner Anupam Mishra.
The proceedings arose from a complaint received in May 2025 concerning Ola's advance tipping feature.
While customers waited for a driver to accept their booking, the app displayed messages suggesting that paying an additional amount could improve their chances of securing a ride.
One such prompt stated:
"Adding a tip might help increase the chances of getting a ride faster."
Customers were initially offered pre-set amounts ranging from ₹10 to ₹40, which subsequently increased. The Authority found that the application permitted add-on amounts of up to ₹499.
Ola defended the feature, arguing that the additional payment was voluntary and transferred directly to drivers without any deduction by the platform.
The company maintained that the feature helped drivers accept commercially unattractive rides, particularly where the distance to reach a passenger was relatively long. It also argued that the payment did not guarantee quicker confirmation.
However, the Authority found that Ola's own data contradicted its claims.
In Delhi, approximately 32 percent of ride requests involving an add-on were accepted, compared with 68 percent of requests without an add-on. In Bengaluru, the corresponding acceptance rates were 39 percent and 68 percent.
The CCPA also noted the contradiction in the arguments by Ola which claimed that tipping behaviour does not affect driver engagement and assignment of rides while also claiming that customers have the option to pay tip to increase chances of getting a ride.
"If the add-on does not influence acceptance, the representation that it improves the consumer's chances of a quicker ride is false. If it does influence acceptance, consumers who do not pay it are placed at a relative disadvantage in securing a ride at the very fare quoted to them, contrary to the opposite party's own assertion of equal access and the opposite party has concealed this from them. On either footing, the representation made to the consumer is misleading advertisement under the Act," the CCPA said.
The Authority also rejected Ola's argument that the additional payment was merely a voluntary tip.
It observed that tipping ordinarily represented appreciation for services already rendered, whereas Ola solicited payments before drivers accepted bookings.
The Authority further held that the interface constituted confirm shaming, a dark pattern prohibited under the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023.
The CCPA also rejected Ola's contention that the feature affected only a small proportion of customers.
"A dark pattern does not cease to be one because it does not succeed with every consumer and a feature used by over one lakh ride requests in a single city cannot be described as insignificant," the order said.
The CCPA directed Ola to discontinue prompts, messages and interface designs that psychologically pressured consumers into paying additional amounts before ride confirmation.
Ola was also directed to comply with consumer protection guidelines and submit a compliance report within 15 days.
Advocates Karun Mehta and Yugam Taneja appeared for Ola.
[Read Order]