Ola Directed To Provide Consumers Auto Ride Receipts, Bank Account Refunds As CCPA Flags 'Unfair Trade Practice'

Centre's consumer watchdog ordered Ola, a leading ride-hailing services provider in India, to provide consumers with the option for a refund either through direct bank account transfer or via a coupon during the grievance redressal process. The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) further asked Bhavesh Aggarwal-led company to provide all the consumers with a bill receipt or invoice for auto rides booked through its platform.

The authority headed by Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare asked Ola to implement these measures to ensure greater transparency and accountability in its services.

Ola, which has a no-questions-asked refund policy, only provided its consumers with a choice of refund through a coupon for the next rides - a policy which CCPA found violating the rights of the customers. The 'no-question-asked refund policy' cannot mean that the company incentivises people to simply use this facility for taking another ride, CCPA said.

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Further, the authority noted that the consumers seeking to avail an invoice for their auto rides were shown a message - Customer invoice for Auto rides will not be provided due to changes in Ola’s auto service T&Cs - on the app.

Not providing a bill or invoice for goods sold or services rendered constitutes an ‘unfair trade practice’ under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the CCPA further noted.

The CCPA has also ordered the following consumer-centric changes in the Ola app:

1. Previously, no details of the Grievance officer and nodal officer were prominently visible on the website. Now, the Name, Phone number and e-mail of the Grievance officer and nodal officer are mentioned, in the Support section of the website.
2. Permitted time of cancellation as per cancellation policy, now prominently displayed at the time of booking ride.
3. The amount of cancellation fee amount is now clearly mentioned on the ride-booking page so that the consumer is clearly aware of the amount which could be charged for cancelling the ride before she/he proceeds to cancel.
4. A new acceptance screen was added for drivers where the address of both pickup and drop location is shown to drivers.
5. To avoid inconvenience and confusion, more reasons are added against which the consumer wishes to cancel the ride.
6. A list of components that constitute the total fare added is now publicly available such as base fare, per km fare, pre-wait charges etc.
7. Communications were issued to drivers to encourage taking digital payments and switching on AC.
8. Revised payment cycles for drivers so that they get payment swiftly.