The government has declared war on the practice of ‘Dark Pattern’ being run by some e-commerce companies, as noticed by the government. In a press release dated June 7, 2025, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has issued an advisory to all e-commerce platforms to take necessary steps to ensure that their platforms do not engage in deceptive and unfair trade practices which are in the nature of dark patterns.
For those uninitiated, dark patterns are manipulative tricks employed by a company to convince you to buy a higher priced product or service than you otherwise would have. As a direct result of dark patterns, consumers suffer financial loss and result in them taking an action they may not want to take, such as signing up for a service in order to access content.
Read below to know more about what the 13 types of dark patterns are and what the government told e-commerce companies to do.
“All e-commerce platforms are therefore advised to refrain from deploying deceptive design interfaces that mislead consumers or manipulate their decision-making,” said the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) in the press release.
The press release mentioned: “All e-commerce platforms have been advised to conduct self-audits to identify dark patterns, within 3 months of the issue of the advisory, and take necessary steps to ensure that their platforms are free from such dark patterns. The e-commerce platforms, based on the self-audit reports, have also encouraged to give self-declarations that their platform is not indulging in any dark patterns.”
The government said in the press release: “CCPA has also issued notices to e-commerce platforms in some cases that have been found violating the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns. The Authority has been keeping a close watch on the violation of the Guidelines issued for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns. Instances of Dark Patterns have been noticed on E-Commerce platforms.”
According to another PIB press release dated June 30, 2023, some examples of dark patterns are:
1. False Urgency
False urgency means falsely stating or implying the sense of urgency or scarcity so as to mislead a user into making an immediate purchase or take an immediate action, which may lead to a purchase; including:
i. Showing false popularity of a product or service to manipulate user decision;
ii. Stating that quantities of a particular product or service are more limited than they actually are.
For example:
a. Presenting false data on high demand without appropriate context. For instance, “Only 2 rooms left! 30 others are looking at this right now.”
b. Falsely creating time-bound pressure to make a purchase, such as describing a sale as an ‘exclusive’ sale for a limited time only for a select group of users.
2. Basket sneaking
“Basket sneaking” means inclusion of additional items such as products, services,
payments to charity/donation at the time of checkout from a platform, without the
consent of the user, such that the total amount payable by the user is more than the
amount payable for the product(s) and/or service(s) chosen by the user.
Provided that the addition of free samples or providing complimentary services or
addition of necessary fees disclosed at the time of purchase, shall not be considered
basket sneaking.
Illustrations:
a. Automatic addition of paid ancillary services with a pre-ticked box or otherwise to the cart when a consumer is purchasing a product(s) and/or service(s).
b. A user purchases a single salon service, but while checking out a subscription to the salon service is automatically added.
c. Automatically adding travel insurance while a user purchases a flight ticket.
3. Confirm shaming:
“Confirm shaming” means using a phrase, video, audio or any other means to create
a sense of fear or shame or ridicule or guilt in the mind of the user, so as to nudge the
user to act in a certain way that results in the user purchasing a product or service from
the platform or continuing a subscription of a service.
Illustrations:
a. A platform for booking flight tickets using the phrase “I will stay unsecured”,
when a user does not include insurance in their cart.
b. A platform that adds a charity in the basket using a phrase “charity is for rich,
I don’t care”.
4. Forced action
Forced action means forcing a user into taking an action that would require the
user to buy any additional good(s) or subscribe or sign up for an unrelated service, in
order to buy or subscribe to the product/service originally intended by the user.
Illustrations:
a. prohibiting a user from continuing with the use of product or service for the
consideration originally paid and contracted for, unless they upgrade for a
higher rate or fees.
b. forcing a user to subscribe to a newsletter in order to purchase a product.
c. forcing a user to download an unintended/unrelated separate app to access a
service originally advertised on another app e.g. A user downloads app, X,
meant for listing houses for renting. Once the user downloads X, they are forced
to download another app, Y, for hiring a painter. Without downloading Y, the
user is unable to access any services on X.
5. Subscription trap
Subscription trap means the process of making cancellation of a paid subscription impossible or a complex and lengthy process; or
ii. hiding the cancellation option for a subscription; or
iii. forcing a user to provide payment details and/or authorization for auto debits for availing a free subscription;
iv. making the instructions related to cancellation of subscription ambiguous, latent, confusing, cumbersome.
6. Interface interference
“Interface interference” means a design element that manipulates the user interface
in ways that (a) highlights certain specific information; and (b) obscures other relevant
information relative to the other information; to misdirect a user from taking an action
desired by her.
Illustrations:
a. Designing a light colored option for selecting “No” in response to a pop-up
asking a user if they wish to make a purchase or concealing the cancellation
symbol in tiny font or changing the meaning of key symbols to mean the opposite.
b. An ‘X’ icon on the top-right corner of a pop-up screen leading to opening-up of
another ad rather than closing it.
c. Designing a virtually less prominent designing a light colored option for
selecting “No” in response to a pop-up asking a user if they wish to make a
purchase.
7. Bait and switch
“Bait and switch” means the practice of advertising a particular outcome based on the user’s action but deceptively serving an alternate outcome.
Illustrations: A seller offers a quality product at a cheap price but when the consumer is about to pay/buy, the seller states that the product is no longer available and instead offers a similar looking product but more expensive.
8. Drip pricing
“Drip pricing” means a practice whereby
i. elements of prices are not revealed upfront or are revealed surreptitiously within the user experience; or
ii. revealing the price post-confirmation of purchase, i.e. charging an amount higher than the amount disclosed at the time of checkout; or
iii. a product or service is advertised as free without appropriate disclosure of the fact that the continuation of use requires in-app purchase; or iv. a user is prevented from availing a service which is already paid for unless something additional is purchased
Illustrations:
a. A consumer is booking a flight, the online platform showcases the price as X at the checkout page, and when payment is being made, price Y (which is more than X) has been charged by the platform to the consumer.
b. A consumer has downloaded a mobile application for playing chess, which was advertised as ‘play chess for free’. However, after 7 days, the app asked for a payment to continue playing chess. The fact that the free version of the game is available only for a limited time, i.e., 7 days in this case, was not disclosed to the consumer at the time of downloading the mobile application.
c. A consumer has purchased a gym membership. In order to actually use the gym, the user must purchase special shoes/boxing gloves from the gym, and the same was not displayed at the time of offering the gym membership.
For those uninitiated, dark patterns are manipulative tricks employed by a company to convince you to buy a higher priced product or service than you otherwise would have. As a direct result of dark patterns, consumers suffer financial loss and result in them taking an action they may not want to take, such as signing up for a service in order to access content.
Read below to know more about what the 13 types of dark patterns are and what the government told e-commerce companies to do.
What did the government say to e-commerce companies?
According to the press release, the government has issued notices to e-commerce platforms in some cases that have been found violating the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns.“All e-commerce platforms are therefore advised to refrain from deploying deceptive design interfaces that mislead consumers or manipulate their decision-making,” said the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) in the press release.
The press release mentioned: “All e-commerce platforms have been advised to conduct self-audits to identify dark patterns, within 3 months of the issue of the advisory, and take necessary steps to ensure that their platforms are free from such dark patterns. The e-commerce platforms, based on the self-audit reports, have also encouraged to give self-declarations that their platform is not indulging in any dark patterns.”
The government said in the press release: “CCPA has also issued notices to e-commerce platforms in some cases that have been found violating the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns. The Authority has been keeping a close watch on the violation of the Guidelines issued for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns. Instances of Dark Patterns have been noticed on E-Commerce platforms.”
What are various types of identified dark patterns?
According to the press release the Department of Consumer Affairs had notified the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns in 2023 and specified 13 dark patterns, namely: False urgency, Basket Sneaking, confirm shaming, forced action, Subscription trap, Interface Interference, Bait and switch, Drip Pricing, Disguised Advertisements and Nagging, Trick Wording, Saas Billing and Rogue Malwares.According to another PIB press release dated June 30, 2023, some examples of dark patterns are:
- False Urgency: This tactic creates a sense of urgency or scarcity to pressure consumers into making a purchase or taking an action.
- Basket Sneaking: Websites or apps use dark patterns to add additional products or services to the shopping cart without user consent.
- Subscription Traps: This tactic makes it easy for consumers to sign up for a service but difficult for them to cancel it, often by hiding the cancellation option or requiring multiple steps.
- Confirm Shaming: It involves guilt as a way to make consumers adhere. It criticizes or attacks consumers for not conforming to a particular belief or viewpoint.
- Forced Action: This involves forcing consumers into taking an action they may not want to take, such as signing up for a service in order to access content.
- Nagging: It refers to persistent, repetitive and annoyingly constant criticism, complaints, requests for action.
- Interface Interference: This tactic involves making it difficult for consumers to take certain actions, such as canceling a subscription or deleting an account.
- Bait and Switch: This involves advertising one product or service but delivering another, often of lower quality.
- Hidden Costs: This tactic involves hiding additional costs from consumers until they are already committed to making a purchase.
- Disguised Ads: Disguised ads are advertisements that are designed to look like other types of content, such as news articles or user-generated content.
Details of some of the specified dark patterns and how they manipulate consumers
According to the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023, here are the details:1. False Urgency
False urgency means falsely stating or implying the sense of urgency or scarcity so as to mislead a user into making an immediate purchase or take an immediate action, which may lead to a purchase; including:
i. Showing false popularity of a product or service to manipulate user decision;
ii. Stating that quantities of a particular product or service are more limited than they actually are.
For example:
a. Presenting false data on high demand without appropriate context. For instance, “Only 2 rooms left! 30 others are looking at this right now.”
b. Falsely creating time-bound pressure to make a purchase, such as describing a sale as an ‘exclusive’ sale for a limited time only for a select group of users.
2. Basket sneaking
“Basket sneaking” means inclusion of additional items such as products, services,
payments to charity/donation at the time of checkout from a platform, without the
consent of the user, such that the total amount payable by the user is more than the
amount payable for the product(s) and/or service(s) chosen by the user.
Provided that the addition of free samples or providing complimentary services or
addition of necessary fees disclosed at the time of purchase, shall not be considered
basket sneaking.
Illustrations:
a. Automatic addition of paid ancillary services with a pre-ticked box or otherwise to the cart when a consumer is purchasing a product(s) and/or service(s).
b. A user purchases a single salon service, but while checking out a subscription to the salon service is automatically added.
c. Automatically adding travel insurance while a user purchases a flight ticket.
3. Confirm shaming:
“Confirm shaming” means using a phrase, video, audio or any other means to create
a sense of fear or shame or ridicule or guilt in the mind of the user, so as to nudge the
user to act in a certain way that results in the user purchasing a product or service from
the platform or continuing a subscription of a service.
Illustrations:
a. A platform for booking flight tickets using the phrase “I will stay unsecured”,
when a user does not include insurance in their cart.
b. A platform that adds a charity in the basket using a phrase “charity is for rich,
I don’t care”.
4. Forced action
Forced action means forcing a user into taking an action that would require the
user to buy any additional good(s) or subscribe or sign up for an unrelated service, in
order to buy or subscribe to the product/service originally intended by the user.
Illustrations:
a. prohibiting a user from continuing with the use of product or service for the
consideration originally paid and contracted for, unless they upgrade for a
higher rate or fees.
b. forcing a user to subscribe to a newsletter in order to purchase a product.
c. forcing a user to download an unintended/unrelated separate app to access a
service originally advertised on another app e.g. A user downloads app, X,
meant for listing houses for renting. Once the user downloads X, they are forced
to download another app, Y, for hiring a painter. Without downloading Y, the
user is unable to access any services on X.
5. Subscription trap
Subscription trap means the process of making cancellation of a paid subscription impossible or a complex and lengthy process; or
ii. hiding the cancellation option for a subscription; or
iii. forcing a user to provide payment details and/or authorization for auto debits for availing a free subscription;
iv. making the instructions related to cancellation of subscription ambiguous, latent, confusing, cumbersome.
6. Interface interference
“Interface interference” means a design element that manipulates the user interface
in ways that (a) highlights certain specific information; and (b) obscures other relevant
information relative to the other information; to misdirect a user from taking an action
desired by her.
Illustrations:
a. Designing a light colored option for selecting “No” in response to a pop-up
asking a user if they wish to make a purchase or concealing the cancellation
symbol in tiny font or changing the meaning of key symbols to mean the opposite.
b. An ‘X’ icon on the top-right corner of a pop-up screen leading to opening-up of
another ad rather than closing it.
c. Designing a virtually less prominent designing a light colored option for
selecting “No” in response to a pop-up asking a user if they wish to make a
purchase.
7. Bait and switch
“Bait and switch” means the practice of advertising a particular outcome based on the user’s action but deceptively serving an alternate outcome.
Illustrations: A seller offers a quality product at a cheap price but when the consumer is about to pay/buy, the seller states that the product is no longer available and instead offers a similar looking product but more expensive.
8. Drip pricing
“Drip pricing” means a practice whereby
i. elements of prices are not revealed upfront or are revealed surreptitiously within the user experience; or
ii. revealing the price post-confirmation of purchase, i.e. charging an amount higher than the amount disclosed at the time of checkout; or
iii. a product or service is advertised as free without appropriate disclosure of the fact that the continuation of use requires in-app purchase; or iv. a user is prevented from availing a service which is already paid for unless something additional is purchased
Illustrations:
a. A consumer is booking a flight, the online platform showcases the price as X at the checkout page, and when payment is being made, price Y (which is more than X) has been charged by the platform to the consumer.
b. A consumer has downloaded a mobile application for playing chess, which was advertised as ‘play chess for free’. However, after 7 days, the app asked for a payment to continue playing chess. The fact that the free version of the game is available only for a limited time, i.e., 7 days in this case, was not disclosed to the consumer at the time of downloading the mobile application.
c. A consumer has purchased a gym membership. In order to actually use the gym, the user must purchase special shoes/boxing gloves from the gym, and the same was not displayed at the time of offering the gym membership.
