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India Demands E-Commerce Platforms Root Out ‘Dark Patterns’

The CCPA has defined 13 manipulative tactics; it has issued legal notices to leading platforms, launching consumer reporting apps for shoppers to flag deceptive designs.

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Earlier this week, union minister Pralhad Joshi, who oversees consumer affairs, told e-commerce platforms to get their house in order. (File Photo/)

Overview

  • Union Minister Pralhad Joshi has directed major online retailers to conduct internal audits and remove any use of dark patterns or face enforcement actions.
  • The Central Consumer Protection Authority’s guidelines identify 13 deceptive design strategies, including false urgency, basket sneaking and confirm shaming.
  • Legal notices have been served to at least 11 platforms, such as Uber, Ola, Zomato, Swiggy, Zepto and Rapido over suspected manipulative interfaces.
  • The government has released consumer tools like the Jagriti App and Jago Grahak Jago portal to help users report dark patterns and check real-time trust ratings.
  • Indian regulators’ crackdown follows similar measures under Europe’s Digital Services Act and California’s privacy laws to ban deceptive interface tactics.