Advance tips to drivers: Consumer Protection Authority issues notice to Uber on app feature
Bengaluru: The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) issued a notice on Wednesday to taxi booking app Uber regarding a feature where it prompts users booking rides to pay tips in advance to drivers.
In a post on his ‘X’ account, Union Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi has expressed concern regarding the issue, saying it was unethical as well as exploitative of the agency to force or nudge users to tip the drivers in advance to ensure a faster service. He also clarified that the actions amounted to unfair trade practice, adding that a tip was given as a token of appreciation after the service rather than as a matter of right, according to a report by The Indian Express.
Joshi said that, taking cognizance of this, he had asked the CCPA to handle the matter, following which, the CCPA had issued a notice to Uber on Wednesday, demanding an explanation on the feature of advance tipping the drivers. The minister also stressed on the need to uphold fairness, transparency and accountability in all customer interactions.
While traditional tipping occurs after service and based on the quality of the service rendered to the customers, forward tipping is designated to incentivize the drivers to accept a ride by offering additional payment.
CCPA is known to have taken action against Uber following complaints by several users, who pointed out that the aggregators had been seeking ‘tips before trips’. The system was also found to be unchallenged by transport departments across states.
Urban mobility expert Satya Arikutharam has opined that, using the app feature, the customers were being forced often to pay tips only to book rides, adding that the system showed the drivers becoming unprofessional by accepting trips only if the consumers offered them tips.
Incidentally, Namma Yatri, the Bengaluru-based auto-hailing app that had been launched in November 2022, was among the first to introduce the advance tipping system in the ride-hailing ecosystem in India. The platform operates on a zero-commission model, where drivers keep 100 per cent of their base fares, and implemented tipping as an additional feature on its app. A year later, by late 2023, Rapido incorporated tipping into its service.
Uber was the latest ride-hailing firm to adopt this feature, having introduced advance tipping only last month. The app, however, introduced the post-service tipping globally back in 2017.
Sources have said that offering drivers tips upfront has become an industry norm with different names. Some platforms that did not pay 5 per cent GST claimed that they have a SaaS (Software as a Service) model and got drivers to earn more through tips. All members in the system, however, moved to this new model eventually, to avoid an unfair advantage, the sources added.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
