Pralhad Joshi orders probe into price discrepancy between iOS and Android devices on ride-hailing apps

The story goes that iPhone users are charged more than Android ones on ride-hailing apps like Ola, Uber and Rapido.

The war between iPhone and Android users keeps on intensifying, especially after a rumour regarding price differentiation that has erupted on social media and slowly trickled into mainstream conversations.

The story goes that iPhone users are being charged more than Android users on ride-hailing apps like Ola, Uber, and Rapido.

Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Pralhad Joshi took to Twitter to express his disappointment regarding the situation and said, "This Prima Facie looks like Unfair Trade Practice where the cab-aggregators are alleged to be using Differential Pricing based on the factors mentioned in the article below.

"If so, this is blatant dis-regard to Consumer’s right to know. I have directed Jago Grahak Jago through CCPA to conduct a detailed inquiry into this and submit a report at the earliest. Have asked the department to look into other sectors as well like, food delivery apps, online ticket booking apps etc."

Joshi shared an article which talks about this 'curious' price discrepancy users faced.

A brief check by Deccan Herald on the Ola app showcased the price discrepancy between iPhone and Android phones.

Both phones used the same pickup and drop destination but there was a difference in the prices.

The left side showcases prices shown on an Android phone and the the right side shows the prices on an iPhone.

The left side showcases prices shown on an Android phone and the the right side shows the prices on an iPhone.

However, Deccan Herald did not conduct an in-depth comparison of prices across different apps on Android and iOS devices.

An assumption that owners of iOS devices (usually costlier than Android devices) are willing to pay more could be one of the reasons, say industry experts.