The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), headed by Chief Commissioner Smt. Nidhi Khare and Commissioner Shri Anupam Mishra, has imposed a penalty of ₹10 lakh on Roppen Transportation Services Private Limited, which operates the ride-hailing platform Rapido, for misleading advertisements, unfair trade practices, unfair contract terms, and deployment of dark patterns in its ride-booking interface.
The penalty follows a sector-wide examination of cab and bike-taxi aggregator platforms in India, specifically targeting practices relating to pre-ride tipping and dynamic pricing. CCPA identified two specific dark patterns in Rapido's interface: 'Confirm Shaming' through prompts such as 'Higher the price, higher the chance of getting a ride' and 'Captains aren't accepting at ₹60. Try adding +10, +20, +30' that created false urgency after riders had already committed to bookings; and 'Interface Interference' through a color-coded pricing slider that displayed green for higher prices with 'higher chance of getting a ride' messages while showing red or orange warnings for lower prices, with the slider design providing more room to increase than decrease prices.
CCPA rejected Rapido's defense that tipping was voluntary and that the prompts reflected real-time negotiation similar to offline conversations, noting that the company provided no data demonstrating that paying additional amounts actually increased ride acceptance likelihood. The authority emphasized that advance payments cannot be presented as genuine 'tips,' which should only be voluntary payments made after service completion, referencing the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2025 which require tipping features only after ride completion.
This action forms part of CCPA's broader scrutiny of advance-tip and dark-pattern practices across ride-hailing platforms, with ongoing examinations of Uber and Ola. The authority had previously issued notices to Uber, Ola, Rapido, and Namma Yatri directing compliance with the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023 and requiring self-declarations. CCPA operates under its statutory mandate from the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 to protect consumers as a class and prevent unfair trade practices.