Centre To Hold Meeting With Amazon, Flipkart & Other Ecommerce Players Over Dark Patterns

In an effort to bolster consumer protection across India’s digital economy, food and consumer affairs minister Pralhad Joshi will meet major stakeholders on Wednesday (May 28) to address the rising concerns around dark patterns in ecommerce.

Industry players, including Amazon, Flipkart, 1mg.com, Apple, BigBasket, Meesho, Meta, MakeMyTrip, Paytm, Ola, Reliance Retail Limited, Swiggy, Zomato, Yatra, Uber, Tata, EaseMyTrip, Clear Trip, IndiaMart, IndiGo Airlines, ixigo, Justdial,  Medikabazaar, Netmeds, ONDC, Thomas Cook and WhatsApp, will participate in the meeting.

 “The Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, in its unwavering commitment to safeguarding consumer rights and promoting fair trade practices, is proactively working to curb the unfair trade practice of dark patterns,” the ministry said in a statement.

Dark patterns refer to user interface and experience designs that compromise on consumer freedom and push them towards choices that are not in their best interest.

In 2023, the department released guidelines on the prevention of dark patterns and recognised 13 dark patterns, including false urgency, basket sneaking, confirm shaming, forced action, subscription trap, interface interference, bait and switch, drip pricing, disguised advertisement, nagging, trick question, Saas billing and rogue malwares. 

Consumers Vs Dark Pattern

Social media outrage surrounding dark pattern practices has become increasingly common, with users calling attention to manipulative techniques like hidden charges on delivery, differential pricing and basket sneaking used by platforms to maximise user engagement and data collection.

Taking on the quick commerce platforms Zepto, Blinkit and Instamart, users often complain regarding hidden charges and price differentiation. These platforms use algorithms to determine price based on the customers’ location and device.

Users have often flagged concerns regarding these platforms differentiating prices on Android and iPhone. Similarly, the quick commerce giants have also been accused of adding promotional products to orders without user consent. 

Several users also claim that if they tip a delivery partner, the platform automatically adds the tip amount to their next order without the users’ consent. 

These platforms also put several charges like handling fee, platform fee and small cart fee, which ends up inflating the price of the total order. 

Users have similar concerns from ride-hailing platforms like Uber, Ola and Rapido. In January, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) issued notices to Ola and Uber over differential pricing for Android and Apple devices.

Last week, CCPA issued notice to all the three ride hailing giants over their “advance tip” feature for faster ride confirmations. 

“The practice of ‘Advance Tip’ is deeply concerning. Forcing or nudging users to pay a tip in advance, for faster service is unethical and exploitative. Such actions fall under unfair trade practices. Tip is given as a token of appreciation not as a matter of right, after the service,” Joshi said in an X post.