‘Deeply Concerning': Pralhad Joshi Takes Up ‘Advance Tip' Issue, CCPA Sends Notice To Uber
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Calling the practice of advance tip as "deeply concerning", Pralhad Joshi said that such actions are unethical, exploitative, and all under unfair trade practices.
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) on Wednesday issued a notice to cab-aggregator platform Uber for budging users and passengers to pay advance tips for faster service, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said today.
Calling the practice of advance tip as 'deeply concerning", the Union Consumer Affairs Minister said that such actions are unethical, exploitative, and all under unfair trade practices.
The consumer protection watchdog, CCPA, falls under the consumer affairs ministry. There was no immediate response from Uber on the matter.
'The practice of 'Advance Tip' is deeply concerning. Forcing or nudging users to pay a tip in advance, for faster service is unethical and exploitative. Such actions fall under unfair trade practices. Tip is given as a token of appreciation not as a matter of right, after the service," he said in a post on X.
The practice of 'Advance Tip' is deeply concerning. Forcing or nudging users to pay a tip in advance, for faster service is unethical and exploitative. Such actions fall under unfair trade practices. Tip is given as a token of appreciation not as a matter of right, after the… pic.twitter.com/WaPH26oT9G — Pralhad Joshi (@JoshiPralhad) May 21, 2025
Joshi emphasised that tipping is meant as a token of appreciation, given after service completion, not as an entitlement beforehand.
'Taking cognisance of this, I had asked CCPA to look into it and today CCPA has issued a notice to @Uber in this regard, seeking explanation from the platform," he added.
The Union Minister said that fairness, transparency and accountability must be upheld in all customer interactions.
When booking a ride on Uber, users are prompted to add a tip of Rs 50, Rs 75, or Rs 100 to potentially secure a faster confirmation and pick-up.
The in-app message states, 'Add a tip for faster pickup. A driver may be more likely to accept this ride if you add a tip." It also clarifies that 100% of the tip goes directly to the driver and notes, 'If you add a tip now, you can't change it later."
Earlier in January this year, the CCPA had issued notices to Uber and another cab aggregator, Ola, over allegations of differential pricing for identical rides based on users' mobile operating systems – Android or iOS.
First Published:
May 21, 2025, 18:09 IST
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