In December last year, the Consumer Affairs Ministry introduced rules defining 13 dark patterns in ecommerce, classifying them as violations of consumer protection laws.
The government is preparing to take action against ecommerce companies after receiving numerous consumer complaints about misleading practices, commonly known as dark patterns, during the ongoing festive season sales, according to a report by The Economic Times.
The report quoted a senior official as saying that the government is reviewing several complaints regarding non-compliance with regulations on dark patterns. The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) is expected to act against violators.
Dark patterns are design elements used by digital platforms to create a false sense of urgency and trick or mislead customers into making purchases online.
To address this issue, the government, last year, notified a host of guidelines addressing the regulation of dark patterns to curb the deceptive behaviour of ecommerce companies.
A study revealed that 52 out of 53 top apps surveyed in India were found to be using dark patterns for marketing purposes, with healthtech platforms leading the way, followed by travel and fintech apps.
These apps have collectively been downloaded over 21 billion times, with an average of 2.7 deceptive practices identified per app, according to the report titled "Conscious Pattern" by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) Academy and design firm Parallel HQ.
Healthtech apps showed the highest frequency of dark patterns, averaging 8.8 deceptive practices per app, followed by travel booking apps with 7.2, and fintech apps with 5.3. Notably, 75 per cent of healthtech apps relied on creating a false sense of urgency to pressure users into making quick decisions.
In May this year, it was reported that the government was looking to launch an app to alert customers about the use of dark patterns.
The latest development adds to the growing scrutiny of ecommerce platforms in the country. Ecommerce giants Amazon and Flipkart are already under the radar of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for their alleged unfair trade practices.
In a recent report, the antitrust watchdog found Amazon and Walmart-backed Flipkart guilty of violating competition laws.
Sources: Business Standard, Inc42
