11 dark patterns prohibited by RBI to protect customers

To provide the highest level of protection to customers against the mis-selling of financial products, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on June 15, 2026 issued revised directions. The new guidelines specified under Reserve Bank of India (Commercial Banks - Responsible Business Conduct) Second Amendment Directions, 2026, also provide greater clarity on some aspects, including the scope of mis-selling and dark patterns.

Dark patterns are primarily designed to trick users or customers to do something they do not intend to at first.

RBI defines dark patterns “as any practice or deceptive design pattern using user interface or user experience interactions on any platform that is designed to mislead or trick users to do something they originally did not intend or want to do, by subverting or impairing the consumer autonomy, decision making or choice, amounting to misleading advertisement or unfair trade practice or violation of consumer rights.”

The directions also state that banks and their direct selling agents (DSAs) should refrain from deploying any dark patterns. “User interfaces deployed by the bank and the DSA / DMA shall be subject to user testing and periodic internal audit for identification of any unfair features, including dark patterns,” the directions say.

The RBI directions have listed a set of dark patterns, which banks need to check, and are prohibited to protect customers. Notably the directions will come into effect from January 1, 2027.

Below are specified these dark patterns:

False urgency: Faking urgency or shortage of some product to lure a customer into taking an immediate action, leading him or her to make a purchase.

Basket sneaking: Inclusion of some other items such as products/ services, charity and donation payments at the checkout time without the user consent, such that the total amount payable by the user is more than the amount payable for the product / service chosen by the user. For instance: selecting additional products or services by default, on behalf of the customer.

Confirm shaming: This can be done through methods such as a phrase, audio, video etc which can create a sense of fear, shame, guilt in the mind of the user, nudging him or her to purchase a product or service or continue a subscription of a service, primarily for commercial gains by subverting consumer choice.

Forced action: Forcing a user to take an action that requires the user to buy an additional product, or subscribe or sign up for an unrelated service or share personal information in order to buy or subscribe to the product or service originally intended. For example, a pop-up after logging into mobile banking which leads to the personal loan section even when the user clicks on the exit or closure button of the pop-up.

Subscription trap: This involves making cancellation of subscriptions difficult. It also can also include other ways like hiding the cancellation option of a subscription or forcing auto-debits for availing free-subscription etc.

Interface interference: A design element that manipulates the user interface in a way that highlights certain specific information while obscuring other relevant information, thereby misdirecting a user from taking the action they desire.

Bait and switch: It is the practice of advertising a particular outcome based on the user’s action but deceptively serving an alternate outcome.

Drip pricing: It is in situations where prices are not fully disclosed or the cost of a product or service is not explicitly provided upfront.

Disguised advertisement: The practice of posing, masking advertisements as other types of content, such as user generated content or false advertisements, which are designed to blend in with the interface and trick customers into clicking on them. For instance, push notifications through mobile applications or emails that appear to be urgent account alerts or important updates but are actually advertisements for new services or promotions, such as, "Important: Your account might benefit from this new feature!".

Nagging: A dark pattern practice on account of which a user is disrupted and annoyed by repeated and persistent interactions in the form of requests, information, options, or interruptions. This pattern is aimed at making some commercial gains, unless specifically permitted by the user.

Trick wording: The deliberate use of confusing or vague language, including double negatives, or other similar tricks, to misguide or misdirect a user from taking desired action.

With clear specifications around dark patterns, the RBI is strictly defining what the banks need to watch out for. In the process, it aims to build trust in India’s digital banking system and curb manipulative practices.