The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a Rs 10 lakh penalty on Roppen Transportation Services Private Limited, which operates the ride-hailing platform Rapido, for misleading advertisements, unfair trade practices, unfair contract terms and the use of dark patterns.

The action follows a sector-wide examination of ride-hailing and bike-taxi aggregators over practices related to pre-ride tipping and dynamic pricing. The CCPA found that Rapido displayed prompts such as “Higher the price, higher the chance of getting a ride” and suggestions to add Rs 10, Rs 20 or Rs 30 while a booking was still being processed.

The authority held that the prompts amounted to “Confirm Shaming”, a dark pattern under the 2023 guidelines, as they could create a sense of urgency or fear of losing the ride unless the rider paid more.

The CCPA also found that Rapido's “Set your price” slider used colour coding and interface design that visually encouraged riders to increase their offer. This was classified as “Interface Interference”, another recognised dark pattern.

The authority further observed that a tip is ordinarily a voluntary payment after a service has been provided and should not be presented as a condition for securing a ride. It also noted that the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2025 require tipping features to be made available only after completion of the ride.

Rapido had argued that tipping was voluntary and that its matching algorithm operated regardless of whether an additional amount was offered. However, the CCPA said the company had not provided data demonstrating that paying more actually increased the likelihood of securing a ride, and therefore considered the related claim unsubstantiated and misleading.

The action is part of the CCPA's wider scrutiny of advance-tip and dark-pattern practices across ride-hailing platforms. The authority had earlier issued notices to Uber, Ola, Rapido and Namma Yatri, while its examination of Uber and Ola remains ongoing.