The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) on Sunday directed ride-hailing service provider Ola cabs to provide a clear choice to consumers to opt between a bank account transfer or a coupon when they seek a refund during the grievance redressal process.
The CCPA stated that whenever a consumer raised a grievance on the Ola app, the platform, as part of its no-questions-asked refund policy, only provided a coupon code for future use without offering a clear choice between a bank account refund or a coupon.
“It was observed that this violates consumer rights and the no-question-asked refund policy cannot mean that the company incentivises people to simply use this facility for taking another ride,” according to an official statement.
At the national consumer helpline of the Department of Consumer Affairs, a total of 2,061 complaints were registered against the cab aggregator from January 1 to September 30, 2024.
The key categories of complaints include – higher fares charged from consumers than what was shown at the time of booking the ride, non-refund of the amount to the consumer, driver asking for extra cash and driver not reaching the correct location or dropping at an incorrect location.
In addition, the company has been directed to provide consumers with a bill, receipt, or invoice for all “auto rides” booked through its platform, ensuring greater transparency and accountability in its services. The CCPA has stated that ‘not issuing a bill, invoice, or receipt for goods sold or services rendered constitutes an unfair trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
It noted that because of CCPA’s intervention, the Ola app has started to display contact details of the grievance officer and nodal officer, permitted time for cancellation, display of cancellation feed on the ride-booking page, allowing drivers to see the pick-up and drop location and allowing more reasons for consumer wishes to cancel the ride.
The CCPA’s action against the cab aggregator comes just days after the consumer affairs ministry initiated a class action against Ola Electric, issuing a notice to the company on October 3 regarding deficiencies in services, misleading advertisements, violations of consumer rights, and unfair trade practices.
Ola Electric has been given 15 days to respond and if the ministry is not satisfied with the responses and action taken by the company, class action will be initiated, consumer affairs secretary Nidhi Khare told FE. The move follows the electric two-wheeler major failure to address over 10,600 consumer complaints over the past year.
“This case is fit for class action because of violation of consumer rights, unfair trade practices, misleading advertisements and deficiency in services,” Khare said, adding that Ola will be given a fair and reasonable time to provide their side of the story.
