CCPA knowledge to Uber on ‘Advance Tip’ function for faster service, more under Scanner -Times of India

New Delhi: The Central Consumer Protection Authority has issued a notification to ride the Habiling Platform Uber through its ‘Advance Tip’ function in its app for the use of faster service, and calls it an unethical and unfair commercial practice. The authority also investigates similar practices through other platforms such as Rapido and Ola, according to Sources.The announcement of the authority’s action after complaints from users, said Pralhad Joshi minister on Wednesday on X: “The practice of ‘Advance Tip’ is deep in terms of. Forcing or pushing users to pay a tip for a faster service is unethical and exploitatively. The CCPA has asked Uber to respond to the announcement within 15 days.Consumer Affairs Secretary and CCPA head Commissioner Nidhi Khare toi said that such a practice leads to “exploitation of consumer choice”. She added: “This is unfair commercial practice and manipulates the customer’s choice. We keep an eye on other platforms in this sector that have such functions.”Joshi said that tips should be a voluntary gesture of appreciation that is given after delivery of the service, not paid for something in advance. “Honesty, transparency and accountability must be maintained in all the customer’s interactions,” the minister said.Although Uber had announced the new function of “Tipping in advance” in his app in Nov. 2024 to enable riders “add a tip for a trip, encourage faster competitions and to stimulate the income of the driver, especially during peak hours”, it was introduced a month ago. The Ride Hailing app claims that “a driver is 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 from Uber to the CCPA promotion.Sources from the industry said that the practice has become an industrial standard and “preceding” in different ways is offered. One of the Ride-Hailing platforms introduced this in 2023 and another bike and taxi-aggregator has been doing this for more than a year.