In the last few years, e-commerce and quick commerce have grown significantly. Many of us order goods or book online services at least once every day. These can include booking a cab, ordering food delivery, ordering groceries, or hiring a house help. While ordering/booking, you may have at times observed some unexpected fees on the final checkout page, a donation checkbox checked, preselected insurance/other add-ons, a new subscription or renewal checkbox checked, etc. If you are in a hurry, you end up paying for these unwillingly. In this article, we will understand what these used by some online platforms are, and the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA)’s guidelines to prevent them.
How much are customers losing annually?
At first, you may think these are nominal amounts, and they won’t make a big difference to an individual customer. However, when all these amounts are added up, they become a huge amount. According to the ‘Dark Patterns in India’s Online Marketplaces’ Report published by market research firm Datum Intelligence, consumers lose about ₹25,000 crore to ₹28,000 crore annually due to the dark patterns used by online platforms.
What are dark patterns?
are practices or deceptive designs that mislead or trick consumers into doing something they originally did not intend or want to do. Dark patterns subvert or impair consumer autonomy and decision-making, amounting to an unfair trade practice or a violation of consumer rights. They are not in consumers’ best interests.
In November 2023, the CCPA issued a notification titled “Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023”. The guidelines are for the prevention and regulation of dark patterns, and apply to all platforms, advertisers, and sellers. The CCPA has identified and listed 13 specific dark patterns in the notification. Some of these include the following.
False urgency
While making a booking, do you remember seeing messages like: “last few remaining” (garments), “filling fast” (movie tickets), “50 more people are looking at this right now” (tour packages), “exclusive deal available only for 5 minutes” with a reverse timing countdown (membership offers), etc. These messages create a sense of urgency or scarcity and mislead consumers into making an immediate purchase.
Basket sneaking
At times, you may have noticed items added to the basket without your consent, resulting in a purchase amount higher than the amount payable for the product / service you have chosen.
Common examples of these include the following:
- When purchasing an electronic device or consumer durable, an extended warranty service is added.
- While ordering food, a membership providing free delivery and other benefits is added.
- When booking a flight ticket, a travel insurance or cancellation insurance plan is added.
Forced action
You found an interesting article online, but after reading a couple of paragraphs, you are forced to do a free sign-up or subscribe to a free newsletter to continue reading further. Some platforms force you to buy a paid subscription to continue reading. Some platforms force you to download their App to use certain features.
Some platforms offer a free trial. However, they ask you to provide your credit card details or other payment mode details before starting the trial. Some Apps ask for access to contacts, read messages, etc., as part of permissions before allowing you to use them.
So, as per this dark pattern, a platform forces you take an action that requires you to sign up, subscribe, download an app, or share personal/payment information before allowing you to proceed with the platform usage.
Subscription trap
Have you experienced that subscribing to a DTH channel is as easy as just giving a missed call to a specified number? However, to unsubscribe a DTH channel, you may have to download the DTH company app and find the unsubscribe option. The other option may be to call their customer care, navigate the complex IVR system, and deal with bots before reaching a human.
Similarly, have you experienced that applying for a credit card is so easy, at your fingertips, just a few clicks, and it is done? But when you have to close the credit card, the online option is usually not there. You have to either email/call customer care, or take time off from work and visit a bank branch to submit the credit card closure form.
So, the subscription trap makes cancellation for a paid subscription complex, lengthy, ambiguous, confusing, cumbersome, etc.
Drip pricing
The practice involves not revealing the entire pricing upfront. You add products to the cart, but when you reach the checkout page, you see platform fees, discount processing fees, delivery fees, packaging fees, etc. You sign up for a free membership to a programme. However, when you try to access specific features, you are asked to purchase a paid membership. Sometimes, you take a basic paid membership. However, when you try to access specific features, you are prompted to purchase a premium paid membership.
Nagging
You visit a website to read an interesting article. However, you keep getting interrupted or bombarded with pop-up ads, sidebar ads, in-between text ads, etc. You are watching a video. In between, you keep getting disturbed by ads every few minutes. As a solution, you are offered to purchase an ad-free paid subscription.
Nagging involves disrupting and annoying a customer with repeated, persistent interactions and interruptions to persuade them to make a purchase for commercial gains.
Other examples of nagging include a platform repeatedly nudging you to download its app, accept cookies, share your mobile number, or accept notifications.
Some other commonly used dark patterns include confirm shaming, interface interference, bait and switch, disguised advertising, trick questions, SaaS billing, and rogue malware.
To strengthen compliance with the November 2023 guidelines, the CCPA issued an advisory on 5 June 2025. It asked e-commerce companies and digital platforms to conduct self-audits and remove dark patterns from their interfaces.
CCPA’s action against dark patterns
The CCPA has imposed penalties on some platforms for using dark pattern practices. For example, in June 2026, was fined ₹5 lakh, and McAfee was fined ₹1 lakh. The CCPA directed both companies to remove dark practices from their platforms.
Guidelines are in place; compliance needs to improve
The CCPA has issued guidelines, issued an advisory to strengthen compliance, and has penalised some platforms for using dark pattern practices. However, compliance of platforms with the guidelines still needs to improve. As some platforms still deploy some dark patterns, customers continue to lose money to them unless they are alert to spot them and opt out of them.
is a freelance personal finance content writer with 15+ years of experience. He can be reached on LinkedIn.