Ola, Uber's Alleged Price Disparities On iPhone, Android Under Probe: Government Tells Lok Sabha

The alleged disparity in fares levied by ride-hailing platforms Ola and Uber on customers using Android and iPhone devices is under investigation, the government said on Wednesday, in response to queries raised in the Parliament.

Pralhad Joshi, the minister of state for consumer affairs, said the two cab aggregators "denied the charges" of using a device-based differential pricing strategy, in response to a letter issued to them on Feb. 10, by the Central Consumer Protection Authority.

"Since both the companies have denied the charges, the matter has been sent to DG (Investigation) for detailed investigation," Joshi stated.

The minister's written response came after Lok Sabha MPs Balashowry Vallabhaneni and Ravindra Vasantrao Chavan asked the government on the measures taken so far to address the alleged fare disparities by the cab aggregators.

Notably, the matter came under scrutiny in January, after a survey by LocalCircles revealed that commuters allegedly experienced significant fare differences for identical rides, when booked through Android devices versus iPhones.

The survey, which collected over 33,000 responses from taxi-app users across India, uncovered alleged troubling patterns within the ride-hailing industry. Commuters pointed to what they called "dark patterns", including bait-and-switch tactics, forced actions and hidden charges that appeared to manipulate pricing.

A large portion of respondents expressed concerns that fare discrepancies were more pronounced when users adjusted pickup locations, with fares allegedly increasing by Rs 100 to Rs 200 in some cases.

Joshi, in his response to the lawmakers' queries, said Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 bar platform companies from gaining unreasonable profit by imposing on consumers any unjustified price. They cannot discriminate "between the consumers of the same class or make any arbitrary classification of consumers affecting their rights", he added.