MoRTH Orders Uber, Ola, Rapido To Remove Pre-Ride Tipping Features
MoRTH directs Uber, Ola and Rapido to remove pre-ride tipping features, citing 2025 motor vehicle aggregator guidelines.
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The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has asked ride-hailing platforms, including Uber, Ola and Rapido, to immediately remove pre-ride tipping options suggesting passengers can improve their chances of getting a cab by paying extra before the ride starts.
The order, issued Aug. 11, comes amid concerns about prompts like “Advance Tip” and “Choose an Add-on,” and messages that suggest drivers might be more inclined to accept rides if passengers pay more.
The ministry said such practices are not allowed under the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2025.
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Tips Allowed Only After Rides:
Passengers can give drivers a voluntary tip following the guidelines in Clause 14.15 but the option can only be presented to them after the ride has concluded.
Tipping feature can’t be demonstrated during booking stage, before the trip begins or during the ride.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) also stated that no app feature, prompt, payment option or interface element should imply that paying an additional amount could influence driver acceptance, ride allocation, booking confirmation, waiting time or service quality.
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Aggregators Cannot Keep Tips:
The ministry reiterated that ride-hailing aggregators should not take a cut from customer tips. Under the 2025 guidelines, the entire tip amount must be passed along to the driver.
MoRTH has also warned that the tipping mechanisms could come under the scanner of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 if they are seen as misleading or manipulative.
The move follows a trend of greater use of advance tipping prompts on ride-hailing apps, in which passengers may be asked to pay more while waiting for drivers to accept bookings.
Such prompts could lead customers to make additional payments in the hope of quicker confirmation or better service, the regulator said.
MoRTH has asked all motor vehicle aggregators to review their platforms and make their apps compliant as early as possible with the guidelines.
