The meeting was convened amid increasing consumer complaints about alleged unfair business practices by these platforms, including the ride cancellation policy as drivers force customers to cancel trips after accepting bookings, which results in the cancellation by customers of the payment of penalties.
“We looked for information from taxi aggregators on how they handle cancellation fees and price increases and how they calculate the fare,” Singh said speaking on the sidelines of an event organized by the ministry.
He further stated: “We asked why the charges for going from point A to point B are different for two different people.”
The ministry would also like to know if these driving apps have taken adequate steps to safeguard consumer data on their platforms.
“We have asked for information. We will discuss with them and based on the outcome we will take further action,” said the secretary.
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Last week, the Chief Commissioner of the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), Nidhi Khare, said: “We have received several complaints from consumers regarding the cancellation and charging policy of taxi aggregators. of complaints is very high and therefore we called the taxi aggregators to explain their policies “.
Citing a few examples, Khare said the regulator has received many complaints of alleged unfair business practices, including taxi drivers forcing consumers to cancel a trip and face a penalty as drivers do not want to accept the ride for whatever reason.
Khare further said that existing consumers are charged high fares for a ride, while new users are lured with lower fares for the same distance.
“It appears that taxi aggregators are using algorithms to attract new customers, putting the old ones at a disadvantage. This is unfair practice,” he added.
In this context, Khare said the regulator would like to understand their algorithms and other policies adopted to operate as taxi aggregators in the country.
