Guwahati: The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has issued letters to the two online ride-hailing firms, Ola and Uber for unfair commercial practices and violations of consumer rights.

According to statistics from the National Consumer Helpline (NCH), from 01.04.2021 to 01.05.2022, customers filed 2,482 complaints against Ola and 770 complaints against Uber.

The CCPA is constantly reviewing the country's consumer protection situation.

The key problems mentioned in the notifications are as follows:

1. Deficiency in service which includes lack of proper response from customer support, driver refusing to take payment by online mode and insisting for cash only, the higher amount charged despite going on the same route previously at a lesser charge, unprofessional driver behaviour, and driver refusing to switch on AC when the consumer is promised AC ride on the app.
2. Inadequate consumer grievance redressal mechanism in the absence of both customer care number and details of grievance officer as required to be mentioned on the platform.
3. Unreasonable levy of cancellation charge wherein users are not shown the amount of time within which cancelling a ride is permitted.
4. Lack of any information on the algorithm or method used by the company to charge different fares for the same route from two individuals.

Inclusion of costs for add-on services through pre-ticked boxes without gaining explicit and affirmative authorization before to each ride.

In a meeting last week, the Department directed ride-hailing companies Ola, Uber, Rapido, Meru Cabs, and Jugnoo to become convergence partners in the National Consumer Helpline, allowing for better grievance redressal for consumers and compliance with the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and E-commerce Rules.