Government issues notice to Ola, Uber over differential pricing on iPhones, Android

Union minister of consumer affairs Pralhad Joshi.

The Centre has issued notices to ride-hailing services Ola and Uber for allegedly charging differential pricing on iPhone and Android phones, Union minister of consumer affairs Pralhad Joshi said on January 23.

The development comes after several consumers claimed that the platforms were showing different prices for the same rides when booked from different kinds of mobile handsets. The notices have been issued by the Central Consumer Protection Authority(CCPA) – a regulatory body under the consumer affairs ministry that deals with consumer complaints.

“As a follow-up to the earlier observation of apparent Differential Pricing based on the different models of mobiles (iPhones/ Android) being used, Department of Consumer Affairs through the CCPA, has issued notices to major cab aggregators Ola and Uber, seeking their responses," Joshi said on X, formerly Twitter.

Ola and Uber were not immediately available for comment.

The controversy started a few months ago when several consumers started posting on how Ola and Uber fares were higher when booked from premium mobile handsets such as iPhone compared to when booked from normal Android handsets.

The CCPA notices come as Joshi warned the companies last month that the ministry would not tolerate any practices that exploited consumers.

"This, prima facie, looks like unfair trade practice where the cab-aggregators are alleged to be using differential pricing based on the factors mentioned in the article below. If so, this is blatant disregard for consumers' rights to know," he said in a post on X.

Responding to one of the social media posts last month, Uber said, “Hi there, multiple differences in these two rides impact the prices. The pick-up point, ETA, and drop-off point on these requests vary, which will cause different fares. Uber does not personalise trip pricing based on a rider's cell phone manufacturer,"

The CCPA  was established in 2020 under the Consumer Protection Act and has been put in charge of regulating matters regarding consumer rights, unfair trade practices and false misleading advertisements.