"Art is what you can get away with," is a famous quote on creativity attributed to painter Andy Warhol. We can think of its business equivalent in the era of smart capitalism, where companies can get away with pricing of similar, and in some cases, the same products or services, in a way where profits depend not on competitors or costs, but on how the profit margins are raised. Last week, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) issued notices to ride-hailing cab companies Uber and Ola on whether they were charging higher prices for customers who use an expensive smartphone like an iOS-based iPhone than those who use a humbler Android OS equivalent.
Both companies have denied the charge of snooping on OS details to fix prices. Still, it is an undeniable fact that it is technically possible for the software to sniff out the category of a customer – and then take things forward. Uber and Ola are in the clear if their statements are to be taken at face value.
However, there are lingering questions on how regulators can police violations of fair business practices in an internet-based transaction. Are digital supercops who snoop in on the software practices of app-based businesses viable? Collecting, analysing, and processing data are crucial in digital-era transactions. We shall await further details on how the Department of Consumer Affairs goes about this in the Ola-Uber case.
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