CCPA has imposed a penalty of ₹10 lakh on Rapido or misleading advertisements and unfair trade practices.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has ordered transportation service provider Rapido (Roppen Transportation Services Private Limited) to pay a penalty of ₹10 lakh for publishing misleading advertisements, and unfair trade practices.
The authority has also directed the platform to ensure that any consumer who availed the offer of “auto in five minutes or get ₹50”, and did not receive the promised ₹50, shall get the amount in full without any further delay or condition.
The Union Consumer Affairs Ministry said in a release that the CCPA had received 575 complaints against Rapido between April 2023 and May 2024, and 1,224 complaints between June 2024 and July 2025. “After detailed examination, CCPA has held these advertisements to be false, misleading and unfair to consumers and has directed to discontinue the misleading advertisements with immediate effect,” the government said.
The government said the CCPA’s investigation also found that the disclaimer “Terms and Conditions Apply” in Rapido’s advertisements was displayed in extremely small and unreadable font. “The promised ₹50 benefit was not actual currency (in rupees) but ‘Rapido coins’, and even then, the benefit was ‘up to ₹50’ and not always exactly ₹50.
These coins could only be redeemed against Rapido bike rides and carried a validity of just seven days. Such restrictions materially reduced the value of the offer and effectively compelled consumers to use another service from Rapido within an unreasonably short time. Such omissions created a false impression of assured service and misled consumers into choosing Rapido,” the statement said.
Published – August 21, 2025 12:22 pm IST
