'Dark Patterns' Influencing Your Checkouts? Govt Takes Note

Even as your local grocer, whom you've known for years, sits idle, you keep splurging on stuff online.  

But now, these e-com giants are in the news for the wrong reason. Why? It is being alleged that they have been using 'dark patterns' — built-in features that apps and websites use to trick consumers into spending, and undermine trust in the long run. 

Dark patterns are behind-the-scenes design choices in user interfaces of e-com apps and websites that manipulate consumers into making unintended decisions. These tactics go beyond persuasive advertising, often pushing users to spend more money or share more personal data than they ever intended.

A high-level stakeholder meeting with key e-com companies is set to take place on Wednesday to address the issue. Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Pralhad Joshi, will chair the meeting and explore possible solutions. 

Online majors in food, pharmacy, travel, retail, cosmetics, clothing, and electronics — like Uber, MakeMyTrip, IndiaMart, Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy and Zomato, among others — have been asked to be present at the meeting. The focus will be twofold: Addressing compliance and penalties for defaulters, and discussing best practices in the industry. 

Online retail in India is galloping, and is expected to triple from Rs 8.8 lakh crore (US$ 103 billion) in 2024 to Rs 27.8 lakh crore (US$ 325 billion) by 2030 (at an exchange rate of Rs 85.40). A fervant need to strengthen consumer protections will come with this growth. “Consumer protection and ease of doing business are not mutually exclusive. They are complementary goals,” says the Department of Consumer Affairs. 

Breaking Rules And Trust 

The upcoming meeting also comes amid long-standing concerns about the way some e-commerce companies have been operating in India.

“These platforms are not allowed to hold inventory. They have been violating this rule by saying the inventory belongs to the sellers. Now, the government has to set things right,” Praveen Khandelwal, general secretary of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and now Member of Parliament told The Secretariat. 

Khandelwal was referring to the guidelines for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the e-commerce sector that state that FDI is not allowed in an inventory-based model of e-commerce. Such grey areas in platform behaviour have prompted closer scrutiny, and now, a more structured push towards regulatory compliance. 

Dark What?

Consumers don't know it, but they have been compelled into taking monetary and other decisions because of 'dark' forces. These forces aren’t the impulsive spending habits or hunger pangs that lead you to open an app, but are known as 'dark patterns'. 

Subtle visual cues, manipulative language, and hard-to-find opt-outs are all examples of "dark patterns" that steer users toward choices they might not have made freely.

Complaints about these from consumers have persisted, prompting the Ministry to now go beyond advisories.

This isn’t the first time the government has made efforts to combat such behaviour. On November 30, 2023, the department issued guidelines to prevent these. 

More than 13 “tricks” were identified in e-com. These range from 'basket sneaking', where items are added to a shopper's online cart without their knowledge, to the more complex 'bait and switch', where users are lured by a great offer that is later "unavailable", pushing them to buy something more expensive. 

From the often encountered 'drip pricing', where a low fare shown at the beginning is hiked at check-out, to the more obscure 'confirm shaming', where users are guilt-tripped into making a choice — for example, when a wellness brand tries to sell you a health drink and the opt-out button gives the passive-aggressive message: "No, I don't care about my health."

The manipulative patterns haven’t stopped. While some platforms made surface-level changes, others continued with questionable practices that exploit grey areas or tweak features just enough to avoid direct violation. 

While some e-commerce players have been pulled up for non-compliance, tomorrow's meeting isn’t to punish innovation, but to work with the stakeholders to protect consumers.