Govt Invites Public Feedback On Draft Guidelines To Eradicate ‘Dark Patterns’ On Ecommerce Websites

The Department of Consumer Affairs is inviting public feedback on the draft guidelines focussed on the prevention and regulation of ‘Dark Patterns’. Framed after detailed deliberations with key industry stakeholders, the draft norms aim to clamp down on deceptive design tactics employed by ecommerce firms. The department expressed concern over Dark Patterns and emphasised the need for proactive measures. 

The public can submit their feedback to the department until October 5. These guidelines, once finalised, will be issued under Section 18 (2) (l) of the Consumer Protection Act of 2019.

“… The objective of the guidelines is to identify and regulate such practices which tend to manipulate or alter consumer choices, often by using deceptive or misleading techniques or manipulated user interfaces/web designs. Thus, the proposed guidelines seek to oversee such practices which are prejudicial to the consumer interests,” said the department. 

For the first time, the guidelines outline what constitutes ‘Dark Patterns’ in ecommerce, categorising them as unfair trade practices and violations of consumer rights. Some examples include:

The draft norms specify the following as aspects of Dark Patterns:

• Creation of ‘False Urgency’ or scarcity by ecommerce platforms to mislead users into making immediate purchases
• Basket sneaking, meaning the inclusion of additional items such as products, services or donations at the time of checkout without user consent
• Confirm shaming, meaning creating a sense of fear or guilt among buyers to act in a certain way to induce purchases
• ‘Forced action’ which essentially entails forcing a user to take an action to buy additional items than what was originally intended
• Making the process of cancelling a subscription complex and lengthy, colloquially called a subscription trap
• Implementing a design element that highlights certain information and obscures other relevant details to misdirect a user from intended action. This is called interface interference
• Bait and switch, meaning the practice of advertising a particular outcome based on the user’s action but deceptively serving an alternate outcome
•  Incorporating drip pricing whereby pricing is not revealed upfront or is revealed surreptitiously within the user experience
• Using disguised ads which include the practice of masking advertisements as other types of content such as user-generated content or new articles 
• Nagging, meaning inundating the users with requests, information or options unrelated to the intended purchase of goods or services

The Department of Consumer Affairs arrived at these draft norms after a comprehensive stakeholder consultation held in June, which included attendees from the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), multiple ecommerce platforms, and law firms.

During the meeting, there was a broad consensus that Dark Patterns present a significant issue. The Department of Consumer Affairs then directed ecommerce platforms to avoid incorporating these elements. A subsequent task force, consisting of representatives from Google, Flipkart, Reliance Industries, Amazon, Swiggy, Zomato, Ola, Tata CLiQ, and Meta, among others, was established to develop these guidelines.

According to an ASCI report, nearly 29% of advertising complaints they processed in the fiscal year 2021-2022 involved Dark Patterns, particularly in sectors such as cryptocurrency, fashion, ecommerce, personal care, food and beverage, and finance.

According to an ASCI report, nearly 29% of advertising complaints processed by it during 2021-22 pertained to dark patterns and were promoted by influencers. Sectors such as crypto, fashion, ecommerce, personal care, food and beverage, and finance led the charts in incorporating such elements. 

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