CCPA’s notice to Ola, Uber for unfair trade practices

Consumer protection regulator CCPA on Friday said it has issued notices to cab aggregators Ola and Uber for unfair trade practices and violation of consumer rights. The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has given 15 days for these two companies to reply to the notices.

“We have issued notices to both Ola and Uber. Most of the consumer complaints received in the last one year are related to the deficiency in services and other unfair trade practices,” said Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare.

The CCPA has issued notice to online ride-hailing platforms Ola and Uber concerning unfair trade practices and violation of consumer rights. It pointed out that a significant number of complaints have been lodged by consumers across the country on multiple issues, which affect their rides booked through both the ride-hailing platforms.

As per the data from the National Consumer Helpline (NCH), 2,482 grievances were registered by consumers against Ola, and 770 grievances were registered against Uber from April 1, 2021, to May 1, 2022. In Ola, 54% of the complaints were related to the deficiency in services, while in the case of Uber, the figure was 64%.

The notices to the two companies have been issued days after the Consumer Affairs Ministry called a meeting on May 10 with cab aggregators. During the meeting, the Union government had warned of strict action unless they improve their systems and redress rising consumer complaints.

“We told them about the rising consumer complaints against their platforms. We gave them the statistics also. We have asked them to improve their system and redress the consumer complaints otherwise the competent authority will take strict action,” Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh had said after the meeting.

The meeting was attended by representatives of Ola, Uber, Meru, Rapido, and Jugnu.

The government held a meeting with the ride-hailing platforms amid a rise in consumer complaints of alleged unfair trade practices by them, including ride cancellation policy, as drivers force customers to cancel trips after accepting bookings, which results in customers paying cancellation penalties.

On Friday, the CCPA said that the primary issues raised in the notices include “deficiency in service”.