Remove pre-ride tipping prompts, government directs ride-hailing aggregators

India's Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued a directive to ride-hailing aggregators, mandating the removal of any tipping prompts or interface elements displayed before a ride concludes. The ministry expressed concern that these pre-ride prompts could unduly influence passengers' decisions and foster a perception that additional payments could lead to improved service quality.

The directive, issued on Tuesday, specifically prohibits any feature, prompt, message, add-on, or payment option from appearing before the ride's completion. This includes mechanisms that directly or indirectly encourage passengers to pay extra to influence ride confirmation, driver acceptance, allocation, waiting times, or service quality.

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Tipping shall be entirely voluntary and shall be offered only after completion of the journey.

According to Clause 14.15 of the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2025, tipping should be entirely voluntary and offered only after the journey's completion. The ministry cited instances of prompts like "Advance Tip" and messages suggesting that tipping could expedite ride confirmation or driver acceptance as reasons for the directive.

Furthermore, the ministry specified that the entire tip amount must be credited to the driver without any deductions by the aggregator. It also prohibited any tipping mechanisms deemed misleading, manipulative, or in violation of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. Ride-hailing companies have been advised to immediately review their applications and platforms to ensure compliance with these guidelines.

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No feature, prompt, message, add-on, payment option or other user-interface element should be displayed before completion of a ride if it directly or indirectly encourages passengers to pay an additional amount to influence ride confirmation, driver acceptance, allocation, waiting time or quality of service.