The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has directed vehicle aggregators to remove pre-ride tip prompts from mobile apps, emphasising that tipping must be voluntary and only after the journey's completion.
Money Control cited a directive dated 11 August, stating that the ministry said it had been informed about certain ride aggregators displaying prompts such as “Advance Tip”, “Choose an Add-on” and “A driver may be more likely to accept this trip if you add a tip” before a ride is accepted or completed.
The government said such features violate the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines of 2025.
As per the report, all motor vehicle aggregators have been advised to immediately review their mobile applications and digital platforms and ensure strict compliance with Clause 14.15 of the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2025.
“Any interface or functionality inconsistent with the above provisions should be suitably modified without delay,” the ministry said.
Guidelines
Tip after ride completion: The ministry cited a clause in the guidelines that specifies that passengers may give drivers a voluntary tip only after the journey is complete, the Times of India reported.
Under Clause 14.15 of the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2025, aggregators may provide a feature that allows passengers to voluntarily tip the driver.
However, the feature can be displayed only after the journey is complete. It cannot be made available at the time of booking, before the journey begins, or during the ride, MoRTH said, according to the MoneyControl report.
No deduction: It said that the tip amount must be credited to the driver without any deduction by the aggregator.
Misleading tipping feature: The guidelines also prohibit any tipping feature or mechanism that is misleading, manipulative or otherwise violates the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and related rules.
"No tipping feature or mechanism shall be provided in the app that is misleading, manipulative, or otherwise in violation of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, and the rules and regulations made thereunder," the guidelines read, as per TOI.
‘No tips linked to ride acceptance’
MoRTH said, according to the report, that the provision makes clear that tipping must be entirely voluntary and offered only after the journey is completed.
Accordingly, no feature, prompt, message, add-on, payment option, or user interface element should be displayed before completion of the ride that directly or indirectly encourages, induces, or creates an impression that payment of any additional amount may improve ride confirmation, driver acceptance, driver allocation, waiting time, or quality of service," it said.
The ministry specifically said such prompts should not create the impression that paying a tip could improve ride confirmation, driver acceptance, driver allocation, waiting time, or the quality of service.
The directive comes as ride-hailing platforms increasingly use in-app prompts and add-on options during the booking process.
