The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a INR1 million (USD10,400) penalty on ride-hailing app Rapido and admonished industry peer Namma Yatri over “exploitative pricing mechanisms”.
The CCPA found that “confirm shaming” and “interface interference” in Rapido’s ride-booking interface had caused an inconvenience for customers using the app. In a separate case, Moving Tech Innovations, the operator of Namma Yatri, was accused of using a used a pre-ride prompt stating high demand, adding “a tip helps you find a ride faster”.
Rapido was also penalised for misleading advertisements, unfair trade practices, unfair contract terms and dark patterns related to prompts encouraging riders to pay more before their rides were confirmed.
The action followed a sector-wide examination of cab and bike-taxi aggregators over pre-ride tipping and dynamic pricing. The CCPA found that Rapido displayed prompts including “higher the price, higher the chance of getting a ride” and “captains (drivers) aren’t accepting INR60. Try adding +10, +20, +30”, while bookings are being processed.
The CCPA found that the prompts amounted to “confirm shaming”. Rapido first quoted a fare and, after the rider booked at the current fare, it prompted the rider to pay more on the grounds that driverswere not accepting the original price. This created a false impression that paying more would increase the chances of securing a ride and placed pressure on the rider at the booking stage, the CCPA added.
The consumer authority held that the practice constituted “confirm shaming” under the guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023.
The CCPA further examined Rapido’s “set your price” slider and found that its design encouraged riders to increase their offered fare. Higher fares were accompanied by a green “higher chance of getting a ride” message, while lower fares triggered red or orange warnings. The slider also provided greater scope to increase than decrease the fare.
This design constituted “interface interference”, as it steered consumers towards paying more, the CCPA found. It was further noted that advance payment cannot be presented as a tip.
The findings also covered Rapido’s treatment of the additional payment as a tip. The CCPA said the fare quoted at booking already accounted for factors including distance, time, traffic, tolls and the amount payable to the driver. It observed that a tip was ordinarily a voluntary payment made after a service had been rendered and referred to the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2025, which require tipping features to be available only after completion of the ride.
Rapido argued that the tipping feature was voluntary and additional payments did not affect its matching algorithm. However, the CCPA said Rapido had not provided data showing that paying more increased the likelihood of getting a ride, and held the claim to be unsubstantiated and misleading.
The action forms part of the CCPA’s wider scrutiny of advance-tip and dark-pattern practices which has spread across ride-hailing and bike-taxi platforms, including but not restricted to Uber, Ola, Rapido and Namma Yatri.
Simultaneously, in case No. CCPA-2/54/2025-CCPA, the consumer authority in New Delhi closed proceedings against Moving Tech Innovations over Namma Yatri’s ride-booking interface and tipping feature. The CCPA directed Namma Yatri to be compliant with existing frameworks.
The proceedings followed a complaint alleging that the platform used a pre-ride prompt stating high demand, adding “a tip helps you find a ride faster”. The CCPA considered whether the prompt could amount to a dark pattern, misleading advertisement or unfair trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act 2019 and the applicable dark-pattern and advertising guidelines.
The director general ofinvestigation concluded that the prompt could mislead consumers and create psychological pressure by linking tipping with faster access to a ride. Namma Yatri disputed this, maintaining that tipping was voluntary and that the feature was intended to reflect demand and incentivise drivers. The company had removed the “high demand” messaging on 22 May 2025 and subsequently disabled the “extra fare” feature.
Taking these steps into account, the CCPA closed the matter, while directing the company to remain compliant with the Consumer Protection Act 2019, the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns 2023, and the Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements 2022.
