In a move to protect online shoppersfrom digital manipulation, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has directed all e-commerce platforms to conduct self-audits within three months to identify and eliminate “dark patterns”— deceptive design tricks that mislead users into making unintended purchases or subscriptions.
Dark patterns are design elements used on websites and apps to mislead or coerce users intomaking unintended choices. These practices erode consumer trust, distort fair market dynamics, and pose a serious threat to the integrity of digital commerce.
The e-commerce platforms, based on the self-audit reports, have also been encouraged to give self-declarations that their platform is not indulging in any dark patterns. The self-declarations by the platforms will enable a fair digital ecosystem along with building trust between consumers and e-commerce platforms.
The directive, issued by theMinistry of Consumer Affairs on Saturday, calls on platforms not only to audit their user interfaces but also to submit voluntary self-declarations confirming they are free of such practices. The goal, the authority said, is to foster a fair and transparent digital ecosystem that builds consumer trust.
Among the most common are falseurgency—where platforms create a misleading sense of scarcity to prompt quickpurchases—and basket sneaking, which involves adding items like insurance ordonations to a user’s cart without clear consent. Confirm shaming uses guilt-inducing language to steer users toward certain actions, while subscription traps makesign-ups easy but cancellations deliberately hard.
Other tactics include drip pricing, where hidden costs appear only at checkout, and promotional content disguised as organic features. CCPA has also issued notices toe-commerce platforms in some cases that have been found violating theGuidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns.
All e-commerce platforms are therefore advised to refrain from deploying deceptive design interfaces that mislead consumers or manipulate their decision-making. The Authority has been keeping a close watch on the violation of the Guidelines issued for Prevention andRegulation of Dark Patterns.
Instances of Dark Patterns have been noticed on E-Commerce platforms.The Department of Consumers Affairs, Governmentof India constituted a Joint Working Group (JWG) comprises of representativesfrom concerned Ministries, regulators, Voluntary Consumer Organisations andNLUs.
The mandate of this JWG is to examine and undertake measures to identify violations of Dark Patterns on e-commerce platforms and share the information with the Department of Consumer Affairs on regular intervals.
The JWG shall also suggest appropriate awareness programmes for creating awareness amongst the consumers. As part of the Government’s broader strategy and ongoing efforts to strengthen consumer protection in the digital era and curb unfair practices in e-commerce and online services, the Departmentof Consumer Affairs, had notified the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation Of Dark Patterns in 2023 and specified 13 dark patterns, namely: False urgency,Basket Sneaking, Confirm shaming, forced action, Subscription trap, InterfaceInterference, Bait and switch, Drip Pricing, Disguised Advertisements andNagging, Trick Wording, Saas Billing and Rogue Malwares.