The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a penalty of ₹10 lakh on ride-hailing platform Rapido’s parent company, for unfair trade practices, unfair contract and dark patterns. It held that Rapido’s pre-ride tipping and colour-coded “Set your price” features are dark patterns and has directed Rapido to discontinue “misleading prompts and practices” that steer the consumer towards paying more. Rapido is operated by Roppen Transportation Services Private Ltd.
The action follows a sector-wide examination of cab and bike-taxi aggregator platforms to examine practices relating to pre-ride tipping and dynamic pricing. The Authority said that its examination of Uber and Ola in this regard “is currently ongoing.”
“During its examination, CCPA found that the Rapido app displayed prompts such as “Higher the price, higher the chance of getting a ride” and “Captains are not accepting at ₹60. Try adding +10, +20, +30” while a rider’s booking was still being processed. It has held that this practice creates a false impression that a rider’s chances of getting a ride quickly depends on paying an additional amount, at the precise stage when the rider has already committed to the booking and has limited scope to negotiate,” it said in a statement. The Authority said this constitutes to “Confirm Shaming” as it creates a sense of urgency and fear of losing the ride if the consumer does not agree to pay more.
It also said that Rapido’s “Set your price” slider, that is colour-coded, influences the rider’s pricing decision and is also a dark pattern as raising the price turns it green while lowering the price triggers a red or orange warning. The slider also provided more room to increase the price than to decrease it, it noted.
“CCPA held that this amounted to a second dark pattern — “Interface Interference” as the design of the interface visually steered consumers towards paying a higher amount, independent of the accompanying text,” it added.
Noting that the fare displayed to a rider at the time of booking already takes into account factors including distance, time, traffic and tolls, the Authority found no justification for Rapido’s practice to subsequently suggest to the user to pay an additional amount before the ride had commenced. “CCPA observed that a tip is ordinarily a voluntary payment made after a service has been rendered and should not be presented as a condition for the service to be provided,” the statement added.
CCPA also referred to the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2025, which requires that any tipping feature be made available only after completion of the ride, and not at the time of booking or during the ride. Rapido had argued that tipping is voluntary, that its matching algorithm continues to operate irrespective of whether a rider pays an additional amount, and that the prompts merely reflected real-time negotiation similar to an offline conversation between a rider and a driver.
However, CCPA has rejected these submissions and held that the timing and design of the prompts placed pressure on the rider. It also noted that Rapido had not placed any data on record demonstrating that paying an additional amount actually increases the likelihood of a rider getting a ride. “The claim was therefore held to be unsubstantiated and misleading,” it added.
Published on September 15, 2026
