Overview
- The Central Consumer Protection Authority, which issued orders on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, fined PhysicsWallah ₹5 lakh and McAfee ₹1 lakh and directed both firms to remove the flagged interface practices at once.
- The CCPA found PhysicsWallah auto-selected a ₹10 donation at checkout and used emotionally charged prompts to discourage removal while requiring personal contact details to access courses labeled as free.
- The regulator said McAfee's renewal screen offered only 'Renew Now' and 'Accept Risk', framed non-renewal as a security threat, and gave the renewal option greater visual prominence to steer users toward continuing subscriptions.
- CCPA took the actions under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the Consumer Protection (E‑Commerce) Rules, 2020, and its 2023 Dark Patterns Guidelines after earlier guidance and a June 2025 advisory asking platforms to self-audit.
- Though the fines are small, the orders signal tighter scrutiny of UX that coerces choices and collects unnecessary data, a risk for students and minors on some platforms, and reporters say company spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment.