 "Ola and Uber respond to CCPA notice, deny claims of fare disparity")
Cab aggregators Ola and Uber on Friday told the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) that they follow a uniform pricing policy and don’t differentiate between consumers using iPhone or Android phones.
“We have a homogenous pricing structure for all our customers and we do not differentiate based on the operating system of the user’s cellphone for identical rides. We have clarified the same to the Central Consumer Protection Authority, and we will work with them to clear any misunderstanding in this regard,” an Ola Consumer spokesperson told Business Standard.
An Uber spokesperson too said, “We do not set prices based on a rider's phone manufacturer. We look forward to working with the Central Consumer Protection Authority to clear up any misunderstanding.”
On Thursday, the CCPA had issued notices to Ola and Uber for allegedly charging different prices for identical routes based on the mobile phone operating systems (Android or iOS) of users.
Union minister for consumer affairs, Pralhad Joshi, wrote on X, “As a follow-up to the earlier observation of apparent #DifferentialPricing 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.”
In the past few months, customers using these platforms widely took to social media to flag differences in rates on different operating systems for identical routes.