The Central Consumer Protection Authority has imposed a ₹10 lakh penalty on Ola operator ANI Technologies for seeking additional payments from customers before rides were completed. The regulator said the feature was misleading, amounted to an unfair trade practice and used a prohibited dark pattern.
New Delhi, November 13 — The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has fined ANI Technologies Private Limited, which operates ride-hailing platform Ola, ₹10 lakh for prompting customers to make additional payments before their journeys were completed.
The regulator held that Ola’s pre-ride “tip” or “add-on” feature misled consumers, constituted an unfair trade practice and employed a dark pattern.
The order was passed by Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare and Commissioner Anupam Mishra. Ola has been directed to immediately discontinue such prompts.
Ola suggested extra payment could get ride faster
The CCPA examined a feature that appeared while Ola’s app was searching for a driver.
Customers were shown pre-set additional payment amounts alongside messages suggesting that paying extra could increase their chances of getting a ride faster.
Ola later renamed the “tip” as an “add-on”, but the regulator concluded that the underlying practice remained unchanged.
The authority said words such as “might” and “chance” did not alter the overall impression that paying more could speed up ride confirmation.
Ola’s own data did not support claim
The CCPA cited Ola’s own data for June 1-15, 2026, which showed that ride requests carrying an add-on were accepted less often than those without one.
The regulator also found Ola’s position contradictory because the company maintained that the add-on did not influence ride allocation even as its interface suggested an additional payment could improve the chances of quicker confirmation.
Consumers were also not told how the suggested additional amounts were calculated.
Add-on amount went as high as ₹499
According to the CCPA, suggested payments increased from ₹10-₹40 in May 2025 to as much as ₹140, while customers could make additional payments of up to ₹499.
The regulator said consumers had already booked their rides at an upfront fare that accounted for factors such as peak pricing and the driver’s distance from the pickup point.
Seeking another payment because of the same supply constraints effectively amounted to charging an additional premium, it said.
CCPA calls it ‘confirm shaming’
The regulator also examined the feature under the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023.
It concluded that suggesting customers who did not pay extra might wait longer or fail to get a ride created a sense of fear and amounted to “confirm shaming.”
The CCPA also noted that such prompts appeared for bookings originating from hospitals, railway stations, airports and inter-state bus terminals, potentially affecting vulnerable consumers.
The authority has previously imposed a ₹10 lakh penalty on Rapido over a similar practice, while proceedings involving Uber and Namma Yatri are under investigation.
