New Delhi:
You order groceries online because you are too tired to visit the market. You buy movie tickets for the family. Or you sign up for an online course.
The price you see on the screen looks manageable. But then, just before payment, the bill changes.
A handling fee appears. A membership gets added. A small donation is already ticked. An extra service or subscription suddenly shows up.
At first, these may look like small amounts. But repeated across dozens of online transactions, they can quietly add up. The government is now taking a harder look at such practices.
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has penalised nine digital platforms for using what are known as “dark patterns” — website and app designs that can manipulate users into making choices they may not have intended to make. The government has informed the Rajya Sabha about the action.
And the list includes some very familiar names: Zepto, BookMyShow, IndiGo, and Physics Wallah.
Here’s What Happened?
Take quick-commerce platform Zepto.
The CCPA found that prices initially displayed to consumers were later increased through handling charges and membership fees.
The regulator treated the handling charges as drip pricing — where the initial price does not reveal the full amount a customer will eventually pay.
The automatic addition of membership was classified as basket sneaking. Zepto was fined Rs 7 lakh and has since discontinued the practice flagged by the regulator.
For a consumer, the frustration is simple. You thought you were paying one amount. You reach the payment page and find another.
Similarly, BookMyShow faced action for another familiar online habit. The movie-ticket platform was directed to remove a pre-ticked Rs 1 contribution to its BookASmile charity initiative.
The problem was not the Rs 1 itself. It was the fact that the contribution was already selected, meaning the consumer had to actively notice it and remove it.
The CCPA classified this as basket sneaking. For someone booking four tickets, Rs 1 may seem irrelevant. But that is precisely why such small additions can escape attention.
Meanwhile, IndiGo was pulled up over a different tactic called confirm shaming. The airline’s app had an opt-out message saying, “No I will take risk”.
Following intervention from the regulator, it was replaced with the more neutral wording, “No, I will not add to the trip.” The difference may look tiny. But the idea behind dark patterns is exactly that. The design should not make consumers feel guilty, pressured or foolish for rejecting an additional purchase.
Apart from these, Education platform Physics Wallah was fined Rs 5 lakh after the CCPA found that a Rs 10 donation to its PW Foundation was automatically pre-selected.
The regulator also objected to emotional messaging that encouraged consumers to keep the donation selected. The CCPA further flagged cases where users were required to share personal information before accessing free courses.
Physics Wallah deposited the penalty and discontinued the practices identified as dark patterns, according to the government.
Nine Platforms, Nearly Rs 20 Lakh In Penalties
The action goes beyond these four companies. The CCPA also imposed penalties on FirstCry, PharmEasy, McAfee, SpiceJet and coaching platform Anuj Jindal.
The penalties ranged from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3 lakh for these companies. The practices flagged included hidden charges, forced subscriptions, misleading countdown timers and manipulative subscription renewal prompts.
Overall, the government said the consumer regulator has collected around Rs 20 lakh in penalties from companies found violating the dark-pattern guidelines since its enforcement efforts began.
It is worth mentioning that India’s Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023 identify 13 types of deceptive interface designs. These include false urgency, basket sneaking, subscription traps, drip pricing, confirm shaming and trick questions.
