Ministry of Consumer Affairs Urges Digital Commerce Giants to refrain from using dark patterns

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs (MCA) has taken action by sending a letter to major digital commerce companies, including Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa, BigBasket, Reliance Retail, Swiggy, Meesho, and others. The letter urges these companies to refrain from using dark patterns to deceive consumers, as it is considered an unfair trading practice.

The letter, dated June 28, emphasises that the use of dark patterns in online interfaces takes advantage of consumers and violates the Consumer Protection Act of 2019. Therefore, the ministry strongly urges these companies to avoid employing any deceptive design or pattern that manipulates consumer choices and falls under the category of dark patterns.

Dark Patterns are specifically designed interfaces that trick or manipulate users into making decisions that are not in their best interest.

Rohit Kumar Singh, the secretary of the department of consumer affairs under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, has revealed that guidelines are being formulated to discourage the use of dark patterns. The ministry hopes that the industry will self-regulate and adopt ethical design guidelines to address this issue. If companies fail to comply, they may face penalties for engaging in unfair trade practices.

The ministry has identified ten practices that fall under dark patterns, such as creating false urgency, adding items to the purchase basket without the user’s consent, confirming shaming (pressuring consumers to pay more for charity), forcing actions (e.g., forceful sign-ups), nagging, subscription traps, difficult-to-exit pages, bait and switch (advertising one product but delivering another), hidden costs, and disguised advertising.