As digital platforms grow exponentially in the country, so do deceptive design practices intended to mislead consumers into unintended spending. In an effort to strengthen consumer protection, the government’s Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has directed e-commerce platforms to eliminate these “dark patterns”.
The Consumer Affairs Ministry on Saturday asked all e-commerce platforms in the country to examine their interfaces for practices that undermine consumer choice or amount to unfair trade practices including false urgency alerts, hidden costs added at checkout, subscription traps, and disguised advertisements that manipulate consumer decision-making.
“All e-commerce platforms have been advised to conduct self-audits to identify dark patterns, within 3 months of the issue of the advisory, and take necessary steps to ensure that their platforms are free from such dark patterns,” the ministry said in a statement.
Based on their audit findings, platforms are encouraged to provide self-declarations confirming their sites are free from deceptive practices, which, the CCPA said, would help build consumer trust and create a fairer digital marketplace.
The government established a Joint Working Group comprising representatives from ministries, regulators, consumer organisations and national law universities, to monitor violations and suggest awareness programmes.
Without naming specific companies, the authority has already issued notices to some e-commerce platforms found violating guidelines for preventing dark patterns. In 2023, the government had notified guidelines for preventing dark patterns and identified 13 specific practices, including basket sneaking, confirm shaming, forced actions, interface interference, bait and switch tactics, drip pricing, and subscription billing traps.
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