New Delhi: New guidelines to handle dark patterns of advertising are likely to be released in the next two months, said the Department of Consumer Affairs. Consumers must not be forced by way of advertisements or directed towards unintended consequences without their express consent, it added.
Dark patterns are online user interfaces crafted to trick or manipulate users into making choices that are detrimental to their interest, such as buying a more expensive product, paying more than initially disclosed, sharing data, or making choices based on false or paid-for reviews etc.
The Department of Consumer Affairs, along with Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), said there is a prevalence of these patterns in the online space and they pose a significant threat to consumers. This falls within the ambit of “Unfair Trade Practices and Misleading Advertisements” of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. For this, it held a meeting with industry stakeholders from 30 platforms including Flipkart, Zomato, Amazon, Meta, Google, MakeMyTrip, Yatra, Snapdeal, Uber, Ola, Big Basket, Meesho, Pharmeasy, Tata 1mg and Shiprocket, etc.
The department said industry self-regulation can play a pivotal role in addressing this issue and these platforms can establish ethical design guidelines that discourage the use of dark patterns.
Rohit Kumar Singh, secretary, consumer affairs department, said “We are extremely concerned over the proliferation on dark patterns on eCommerce and other modes. Consumers must not be forced or directed towards unintended consequences without their express consent and consent by deceit is not an express consent. Consumers shall be aware of what they are signing up and also should be able to get out of the same.”
The number of internet connections in India reached 830 million in 2021 and the country’s consumer digital economy is anticipated to hit the $1 trillion by 2030, growing from $537.5 billion in 2020. This is attributed to the strong adoption of online services like eCommerce and edtech in the country.
But certain aspects of UI/UX design and online “choice architecture” define consumer choices and when they are manipulated, it is detrimental to consumers since they subvert user autonomy, decision-making or choice and lead to unintended purchases, addiction and overuse and privacy violations.
Manisha Kapoor, CEO and secretary general, ASCI added: “With e-commerce and social commerce growing at breakneck speed online consumer safety is at the top of our agenda.”
In ‘Drip Pricing’, when a user is shopping online, only a part of a product’s price is disclosed to the buyer until they reach the page where the payment needs to be made. This creates ambiguity around the final price, and the representation is misleading. ASCI suggests that the quoted prices must include non-optional taxes, duties, fees and charges that apply to all or most buyers.
In ‘Bait and Switch’, as the name suggests, when a user takes action expecting one outcome, the person is instead served an outcome they didn’t want. For instance, a consumer may select a product offered at a certain price but is thereafter only able to access it at a higher price.‘False Urgency’ means that companies should not state or imply that the available quantity of a particular product is more limited than they actually are.
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Updated: 14 Jun 2023, 10:57 AM IST