Why in News?
Recently A report by Datum Intelligence revealed that Indian online shoppers lose between ₹25,000 to ₹28,000 crore annually to dark patterns (such as hidden charges, subscription traps, and forced add-ons).
What are Dark Patterns?
- Definition: Deceptive user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) designs used by websites and apps.
- Purpose: They deliberately trick, manipulate, or nudge consumers into making choices that benefit the business but are not in the consumer's best interest.
- Origin: The term was first coined in 2010 by user experience researcher Harry Brignull.
- Legal Status: Under India’s Consumer Protection Act, 2019, dark patterns are officially classified as an Unfair Trade Practice.
Regulatory Actions
- CCPA Corporate Crackdown: The CCPA penalised Zepto (₹7 lakh) for drip pricing. It also imposed generic fines totalling ₹44 lakh against e-commerce and media firms like Flipkart, Meta (Facebook Marketplace), and Meesho for unfair trade and misleading ads.
- Self-Audit Mandates: The government ordered digital storefronts to conduct internal audits and formally self-declare themselves "Dark Pattern Free". Platforms like BlinkIt, Zomato, and BigBasket have submitted these compliance filings.
13 Notorious Types Identified by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA)
The Indian government officially monitors and prohibits 13 specific deceptive categories:
- Basket Sneaking: Adding unselected items, charitable donations, or insurance to the digital shopping cart without the consumer’s active consent.
- Drip Pricing: Concealing the final price elements (like unexpected platform fees or packaging charges) until the very last stage of payment.
- False Urgency: Displaying fake countdown timers or misleading messages ("Only 1 room left!") to scare consumers into booking quickly.
- Forced Action: Preventing a user from accessing a free service unless they buy an unrelated product or share excessive personal data.
- Subscription Traps (Roach Motel): Making it incredibly easy to sign up for a paid plan but intentionally difficult, confusing, or multi-stepped to cancel it.
- Bait and Switch: Advertising an item at a highly attractive price but changing it to a pricier alternative or claiming it is out of stock when clicked.
- Confirm Shaming: Using emotional manipulation or guilt-tripping text ("No thanks, I hate saving money") to stop users from opting out of a service.
- Interface Interference: Highlighting preferred corporate buttons in bright colours while hiding the "Decline" or "Exit" options in tiny, low-contrast fonts.
- Disguised Advertisements: Blending promotional ads or sponsored videos into organic content feeds so users accidentally click on them.
- Nagging: Repeatedly disrupting user workflow with pop-up requests ("Upgrade to Premium") after the user has already said no.
- Trick Questions: Using complex double negatives or confusing phrasing to make users accidentally pick an unintended option.
- SaaS Billing / Auto-Renewal: Charging a consumer’s card automatically without providing a clear alert or invoice warning beforehand.
- Ransomware / Rogue Coercion: Demanding money or forcing actions under the threat of locking data or blocking account usage.
Download Pdf
