Misled Consumers By Both Commission And Omission: CCPA Fines Rapido Rs 10 Lakh

Bike aggregator platform Rapido's parent entity has been fined Rs 10 lakh by India's consumer rights watchdog over misleading advertisements, an order from Wednesday showed.

The Central Consumer Protection Authority took up the case on a suo-moto basis against Roppen Transportation Services Pvt. over alleged misleading advertisements on its official platforms, including YouTube and Facebook.

The authority looked into the company's claims of 'Guaranteed Auto' and 'Auto in 5 min or get Rs 50.'

"The pattern of deceptive practices such as 'Guaranteed Auto' and 'Auto in 5 min or get Rs 50' falls within the definition of a 'misleading advertisement' under Section 2(28) and 'unfair trade practice' under Section 2 (47) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019," CCPA said in its order.

It said that Rapido's advertisements directly influenced consumers' decision-making and that Rapido adopted such unfair and deceptive practice for the purpose of promoting the sale of its service.

The regulator's inquiry showed that Rapido created a false impression of assured service, when in fact the Rs 50 benefit was paid as in-app tokens valid only for seven days, redeemable only against bike rides.

"This condition, undisclosed in the advertisement, not only diminishes the true worth of the promised “₹50” but also creates undue compulsion for repeat engagement under restrictive terms," CCPA's order read.

The misleading advertisements ran for 548 days across over 120 cities and in multiple languages, which increased the misleading influence of the ads, said CCPA.

The authority noted that 575 consumer complaints were registered on the National Consumer Helpline between April 2023 and May 2024 against Rapido. Another 1,224 complaints came in between June 2024 to July 2025, against the Aravind Sanka-led firm.

"It is evident from the above figures that the number of consumer complaints against the opposite party has increased substantially over the subsequent period," the order said. Half of these grievances remained unaddressed by Rapido, the order showed.

Most of the complaints were about overcharging, while the next highest related to non-refunds. Complaints about driver misconduct and non-fulfilment of cashback promises also made it on the list.

"The unresolved grievances pending in NCH clearly highlights the apathetic attitude towards the consumers," CCPA said.

In its order, the authority said Rapido had engaged in “a practice calculated to mislead consumers by both commission and omission,” overstating service reliability while concealing key conditions.

CCPA said that Rapido had engaged in a practice "calculated to mislead consumers by both commission and omission," overstating its actual service capability while concealing qualifying conditions for the purpose of promoting its business.

In its order, the authority has directed Rapido to discontinue the misleading advertisements with immediate effect, and pay a penalty of Rs 10 lakh for publishing misleading advertisement and unfair trade practice.

It has also ordered Rapido reimburse consumers who have not been paid Rs 50 through the advertised offer and has asked the firm to submit a compliance report of the directions within 15 days of receipt of the order.

NDTV Profit has reached out to Rapido for comments on the story.