Ola’s own figures showed that ride requests carrying an add-on were accepted far less often than those without one, and the Central Consumer Protection Authority has now held its Advance Tip Prompts to be a misleading advertisement and a “confirm shaming” dark pattern. It has ordered the feature scrapped and imposed a penalty of Rs 10 lakh.
New Delhi: In Delhi, about 32 per cent of Ola ride requests carrying an add-on were accepted, against 68 per cent of those without one. That data, produced by the company itself, proved decisive as the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) directed ANI Technologies Private Limited, which runs the Ola app, to immediately stop showing Advance Tip Prompts that nudge customers to pay a tip or “add-on” before a driver accepts their booking.
The Authority found the practice to be a misleading advertisement, an unfair trade practice and a prohibited dark pattern under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, and imposed a penalty of Rs 10 lakh, the maximum prescribed for a first contravention [In the matter of: Misleading advertisement, unfair trade practices, violation of consumer rights and use of dark patterns by ANI Technologies Private Limited (Ola)].
The order dated November 10, 2026 in Case No. CCPA-2/55/2025-CCPA was passed by Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare and Commissioner Anupam Mishra.
Acceptance rates in Ola’s own data
The Authority found that Ola’s figures cut against its claims. In Bengaluru, the corresponding numbers were 39 per cent for requests with an add-on and 68 per cent for those without. It held that the representation was misleading either way: if the add-on did not influence acceptance, the promise of a quicker ride was false, and if it did, customers who did not pay were placed at a disadvantage at the very fare quoted to them.
The CCPA also rejected the description of the payment as a tip, noting that a tip ordinarily rewards a service already rendered, whereas Ola solicited the money before a driver had even accepted the booking. It found that the prompts, shown on a screen with a progress bar while the customer is uncertain whether a ride will come at all, fit the definition of “confirm shaming” in the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023.
A complaint in May 2025, and a feature that stayed
The proceedings began with a complaint received in May 2025 about Ola’s advance tipping feature. While a customer waited for a driver to accept a booking, the app displayed messages such as “Adding a tip might help increase the chances of getting a ride faster” and “Improve your chances of quicker ride confirmation!”, along with pre-set amounts and an option to enter a custom add-on.
The CCPA recorded that the practice continued without a break for well over a year. It ran on after the show cause notice of May 28, 2025, after the Authority advised Ola at the hearing of July 4, 2025 to discontinue it, and after the December 15, 2025 amendment to the Motor Vehicles Aggregators Guidelines, 2025. It was still being demonstrated before the CCPA on June 24, 2026. Over this period, the order notes, the suggested amounts rose from the Rs 10 to Rs 40 range to as high as Rs 140.
What Ola said in its defence
Ola argued that the payment was voluntary, went entirely to the driver without any deduction by the platform, and helped drivers accept commercially unattractive rides, particularly where the pick-up point was far away. It also maintained that the add-on did not guarantee quicker confirmation, and that it retained no part of the amount.
Hospitals, stations and the airport
On the vulnerability of those affected under Section 21(7)(c), the Authority observed:
“Consumers at such locations, including patients, the elderly, travellers with luggage and persons travelling alone or at night, are the least able to resist a representation that payment will secure a quicker ride.”
It noted that Ola’s own booking data showed pick-up and drop points at hospitals, railway stations, inter-state bus terminals and the airport. On revenue, it held that Ola’s claim that it earns nothing from the add-on was not a mitigating factor, since the money is collected through its platform in digital payments and the feature serves its interest in keeping drivers on the app.
Setting the penalty at the ceiling
The CCPA recorded that Ola’s revenue from operations for 2024-25 was about Rs 1,060 crore on a standalone basis, so that a penalty of Rs 10 lakh is less than 0.01 per cent of that revenue. It held:
“Any lower penalty would be disproportionate to the gravity of this contravention and would not effectively deter a platform of the opposite party’s size from repeating it.”
The Authority also noted that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, by a letter of August 11, 2026 to all motor vehicle aggregators, had clarified that no prompt suggesting an additional payment may improve ride confirmation can be shown before the ride is completed. Even so, before passing the order, it observed the app still displaying “Improve your chances of quicker ride confirmation!” with pre-set amounts of Rs 20, Rs 30, Rs 40 and Rs 50.
What Ola must now do
Exercising its powers under Sections 20 and 21 read with Sections 10, 18 and 19 of the Act, the CCPA directed:
“The opposite party shall forthwith discontinue the display of all prompts, messages, interface designs, pre-set amounts, or any other dark pattern elements that solicit, nudge, coerce or psychologically pressure consumers into paying any amount, whether described as a tip, add-on, additional fare or by any other name, over and above the upfront fare displayed at the time of booking, prior to the completion of the journey…”
Ola must also comply strictly with the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the Dark Patterns Guidelines, 2023 and the Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022. It has been directed to pay the Rs 10 lakh penalty under Section 21(2) within 15 days of receiving the order and to file a compliance report within the same period.
Why the order matters
The order is one of the clearest applications yet of the 2023 Dark Patterns Guidelines to a ride-hailing platform. It treats a pre-acceptance “tip” not as a gesture of goodwill but as a de facto extra charge on a fare already agreed, and it places the burden on platforms to back any promise of faster service with evidence. With the transport ministry’s August 2026 letter already in place, the ruling is likely to shape how every aggregator designs its booking screens.
Case Title: In the matter of: Misleading advertisement, unfair trade practices, violation of consumer rights and use of dark patterns by ANI Technologies Private Limited (operating under the brand name ‘Ola’) [Case No. CCPA-2/55/2025-CCPA]
Coram: Nidhi Khare, Chief Commissioner, and Anupam Mishra, Commissioner, Central Consumer Protection Authority
Date of Order: November 10, 2026
For ANI Technologies Private Limited (Ola): Karun Mehta, Advocate; Mayank Kulshrestha; Yugam Taneja, Advocate; Ola legal team