Consumer body issues notice to Ola, Uber

Chennai: The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has issued notices to online ride hailing platforms Ola and Uber for alleged unfair trade practices and violation of consumer rights.

As per the data from the National Consumer Helpline for April,  2,482 grievances were registered by consumers against Ola and 770 against Uber last month.

In the case of Ola, 1,340 complaints or 54 per cent of the total complaints were regarding deficiency in service. Deficiency in service  includes lack of proper response from customer support, driver refusing to take payment by online mode and insisting for cash only, higher amount charged despite going on the same route previously at a lesser charge, unprofessional driver behaviour and driver refusing to switch on AC when the consumer is promised AC ride on the app.

About 61 per cent or 473 complaints received against Uber were regarding deficiency of services.

Other major complaints against the cab riding apps were non-refunding of the paid amount, unauthorised charges and overcharging.

The issues raised in the notices served to the app companies include inadequate consumer grievance redressal mechanism.  Both customer care number and details of grievance officer as required to be mentioned on the platforms were absent.

Cancellation charges were unreasonably levied by the apps. Users are not shown the amount of time within which cancelling a ride is permitted. Undue cancellation charges are borne by users when they are forced to cancel the ride due to unwillingness of the driver to accept the ride or come to the pick-up location.

Further, information on the algorithm or method used by the firm to charge different fares for the same route from two persons was not available.