Govt ramps up action against dark patterns, calls major e-commerce players for meeting

Union minister Pralhad Joshi will chair a high-level stakeholder meeting on May 28 to address rising concerns over dark patterns in the digital marketplace.

Major online platforms, including Amazon, Flipkart, Meta, Zomato, Swiggy, Apple, MakeMyTrip, Uber, Paytm, Reliance Retail, and others from the food, pharmacy, travel, cosmetics, clothing, and electronics industries have been invited for the meeting in the national capital.

“These practices erode consumer trust, distort fair market dynamics, and pose a serious threat to the integrity of digital commerce,” the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution said in a statement.

The meeting, which comes in the wake of the Department of Consumer Affairs’ ongoing crackdown on unfair digital trade practices, aims to explore actionable strategies to tackle deceptive design practices that mislead or manipulate consumers into unintended actions.

On November 30, 2023, the department issued guidelines identifying 13 dark patterns such as false urgency, bait and switch, basket sneaking, subscription traps, and disguised advertisements.

Among its recent initiatives, the Department, in collaboration with IIT (BHU), launched the Dark Patterns Buster Hackathon in October 2023. The event sought innovative tech-based solutions to detect and prevent such manipulative practices. Outcomes from the hackathon led to the launch of three consumer protection apps on National Consumers Day 2024.

The Department has also undertaken extensive awareness campaigns and is actively monitoring e-commerce platforms to curb deceptive practices. Officials maintain that ensuring consumer rights and facilitating ease of business are complementary goals.