Now Reading: Centre orders Uber, Ola to remove pre-ride tipping prompts
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Centre orders Uber, Ola to remove pre-ride tipping prompts
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has directed Uber, Ola and other cab aggregators to remove pre-ride tipping options from their apps with immediate effect. The move targets prompts such as…
The Story in Brief
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has directed Uber, Ola and other cab aggregators to remove pre-ride tipping options from their apps with immediate effect. The move targets prompts such as "Advance Tip" or "Improve your chances of quicker ride confirmation" that appeared during booking, implying extra payment could speed up cab allocation.
The Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2025, already banned such practices. Post-ride voluntary tipping remains allowed, with the full amount going to the driver. The Ministry has asked platforms to audit and modify their digital interfaces without delay.
The Indian Opinion
The Ministry's order is a sensible consumer protection move, but it exposes how ride-hailing apps had been nudging passengers into paying extra simply to get service they were already owed. The narrative that tipping 'greases the wheels' in a marketplace has been rightly junked. The real test now is whether apps silently reintroduce similar prompts under a different name, and whether the government has the monitoring muscle to catch them.
Sources (2): news.abplive.com, indiatvnews.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
