After Uber, Ola denies setting price on basis of rider's phone manufacturer

NEW DELH: A day after the Centre issued notice to cab aggregators Ola and Uber over allegations of fare discrimination, the companies said that they do not differentiate customers on the basis of operators.

Ola Consumer, the Indian ride-hailing service, issued a statement on Friday clarifying that their pricing structure remains uniform regardless of customers' mobile device models, Reuters reported.

Earlier, Ola's competitor Uber also made a similar denial about differential pricing between Android and Apple devices.

Uber said Thursday, "We do not set prices based on a rider's phone manufacturer. We look forward to working with CCPA to clear up any misunderstanding." Joshi on Wednesday held a meeting with officials of consumer affairs minister department where he was appraised about recent steps taken to protect consumer interests, including in this case.

A month ago, the TOI reported the disparity in the fares displayed simultaneously on Android devices and iPhones for identical rides. After TOI report and several users complain, consumer affairs minister Pralhad Joshi had said this prima facie appeared to be unfair trade practice and asked CCPA to conduct a probe. He had also directed his department to find out if food delivery and online ticket booking apps were practising differential pricing.

A spokesperson from Ola Consumer told Reuters about their commitment to consistent pricing and said, "We have a homogenous pricing structure for all our customers and we do not differentiate based on the operating system of the user's cellphone for identical rides."

The company confirmed their response to the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), expressing their willingness to address any misconceptions.