Overview
- The CCPA issued orders on Wednesday, June 3, fining PhysicsWallah ₹5 lakh and McAfee Software India ₹1 lakh and directing both companies to remove the identified interface practices immediately.
- Investigators found PhysicsWallah used “basket sneaking” by auto‑selecting a ₹10 donation at checkout and “confirm shaming” by showing emotionally coercive messages to discourage users from removing the donation.
- The regulator also found PhysicsWallah required mobile numbers and email addresses to access courses advertised as free even though the course content was identical across accounts, a practice classified as “forced action.”
- CCPA said McAfee’s renewal page presented only “Renew Now” and “Accept Risk,” framed non‑renewal as a security hazard and used prominent visual cues to steer users toward renewing subscriptions.
- The orders invoke the Consumer Protection Act 2019, the Consumer Protection (E‑Commerce) Rules 2020 and the 2023 Dark Patterns Guidelines and follow a June 2025 CCPA advisory urging platforms to self‑audit and purge manipulative designs.