Tinder could be in breach of UK law and found to be discriminating against young gay, lesbian and over 30 users by charging them more, according to a watchdog.
An investigation by Which? has uncovered that those interested in the dating app's premium service, Tinder Plus, are being charged differently to other users.
Which? asked almost 200 mystery shoppers to create real profiles and make a note of prices quoted for Tinder Plus, which includes perks such as unlimited “Likes” and “Rewinds” and the ability to undo accidental selections.
The research showed some gay and lesbian users were paying more, with an average premium of more than 10% compared to bisexual users, and more than 8% compared to heterosexual users.
This trend was driven by the youngest age group, with Which? finding that gay and lesbian people aged 18 to 29 paid £60.15 on average, which is 37% more than heterosexual users aged under 30 and 30% more than bisexual users under 30.
When it came to age, those in the 30 to 49-year-old age bracket paid 48% more and the over 50s paid 46% more on average for a 12-month Tinder Plus subscription.
Across the entire mystery shopping exercise, quotes for a year’s access to Tinder Plus ranged from £26.09 to £116.99, with 20 different prices quoted in total.
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The watchdog said Tinder did not make clear the full extent of how it applied personalised pricing on the app, “with no explanation to customers that their personal data could be exploited in this way”.
Tinder, which is is owned by the Texas-based Match Group, said it was “categorically untrue that our pricing structure discriminates in any way by sexual preference”.
It told Which? that older people did have to pay more in some countries, but said the price difference was “a discount for younger users”. Which? said this was not made clear to people using the app.
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The consumer group noted that it was occasionally justifiable under UK law to offer age-based price variations for the same product or service, such as discounts to over-65s or students, where it can be shown there is a legitimate basis for this.
However, it said that in the case of Tinder it was unclear as to why over-30s were paying more.
Which? said it had reported its findings to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and called on them to investigate whether there had been a breach of the Equality Act 2010, which makes it unlawful to charge one sexual orientation more.
A Tinder spokeswoman told Which?: “Tinder is free to use and the vast majority of our members enjoy our app without upgrading to the paid experience.
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“However, we do offer a variety of subscription options to help our members stand out and match with new people more efficiently.
“Tinder operates a global business and, in some geographies, we offer discounted subscriptions to younger members.
“In addition, we frequently offer promotional rates which can vary based on factors like location or length of subscription. No other demographic information is considered in our pricing structure.”
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The spokeswoman added: “It is categorically untrue that our pricing structure discriminates in any way by sexual preference. Any reporting or inference is patently false and outrageous. There are no truths to the Which? mystery shopping activity.”
An EHRC spokeswoman said it would respond in due course over the report by Which?.
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