Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik has directed the state Transport Commissioner to act against app-based taxi aggregators over forced tipping, arbitrary fare demands and passenger harassment, after Kalyan Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Dr Shrikant Shinde raised the issue. Sarnaik said on X that forcing tips on passengers is “unfair to passengers” and that he has instructed the Transport Commissioner to “take prompt action against the concerned companies”.

What prompted it: Shinde urged Sarnaik to take strict action against app-based taxi and ride-hailing services, calling the practice of forcing extra payments “nothing less than holding customers to ransom and exploiting them during times of need”. Good service should earn voluntary tips, he said, “not be used as a tool for coercion or blackmail”.

What the complaints allege: Passengers say, drivers:

• Demand additional payments or tips after accepting bookings.
• Threaten to cancel or refuse rides when passengers reject their demands, leaving them stranded.
• Harass and pressure commuters, particularly during emergencies or at odd hours.

What the minister committed to: Sarnaik said the Transport Department would implement measures to curb the “arbitrary functioning” of app-based taxi companies and that the state would soon introduce a new aggregator policy. He thanked Shinde for bringing the matter to the government’s notice.

This is not Maharashtra’s first move on aggregators: The state has steadily built an aggregator regulatory framework.

• May 2025: It notified the Aggregator Cabs Policy 2025, covering Ola, Uber and Rapido, with rules on ride cancellations, surge pricing and driver earnings, including a penalty on drivers who cancel without valid reason.
• October 2025: It published draft Motor Vehicle Aggregator Rules, 2025 under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, capping surge fares at 1.5 times the base fare set by the Regional Transport Authority.
• March 2026: Sarnaik revoked the provisional bike-taxi licences of Ola, Uber and Rapido over regulatory violations.

The forced-tipping issue is already under central scrutiny: The practice Sarnaik flagged maps onto the “advance tip” mechanism that the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has investigated since 2025.

The CCPA issued a notice to Uber for “forcing or nudging” users to pay advance tips for faster service, which Union Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi called an unfair trade practice, and expanded the inquiry to Ola and Rapido. A LocalCircles survey cited by the coverage found that 78% of app-based taxi users still faced intrusive prompts, including advance-tip nudges, despite months of scrutiny.

Why this matters: The action raises a jurisdictional question. Forced tipping through app prompts is a dark pattern, which falls under the CCPA’s remit under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, not obviously under a state transport department, whose tools cover licensing and vehicle rules rather than app-interface design.

Maharashtra is stepping in to address a problem that the CCPA has investigated since early 2025, yet LocalCircles data show 78% of users still face these prompts, suggesting that central scrutiny has not changed how platforms behave. A second regulator may add pressure, or it may fragment accountability across two authorities that hold overlapping claims and different powers.

The complaints also blame drivers, but the platforms design the advance-tip nudge directly into the app. Whether Maharashtra’s action can reach that design layer, rather than only individual driver conduct, will determine whether it fixes the root cause or only the symptom.

Also read:

• How Advance Tipping Is Quietly Reshaping India’s Ride-Hailing Experience
• Centre Orders Consumer Protection Authority To Probe Ride-Hailing Apps Over Differential Pricing
• Australia to Ban Dynamic Pricing and Hidden Fees: Here’s How India Compares