Have you ever wondered if the price of your online food order has gone up between the menu and the checkout page? Or booked an expensive air ticket after getting an alert that only two seats are left at a discounted price?
Probably, you’ve just noticed a deceptive practice among some digital economy firms that leads customers to make unintended purchasing choices. But you have a remedy: Register a complaint on the National Consumer Helpline and the government will take action against the company, said a senior official.
According to Union Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh, these practices, also known as ‘dark patterns’, are in the nature of unfair trade practices and come under the Consumer Protection Act, which is punishable. He said that if any complaint is received, the government will take action as there is no regulatory difference as far as dark patterns are concerned.
“Action will be taken under the existing provisions of the Consumer Protection Act 2019,” Singh said.
Other similar practices include free trials of services that turn into regular purchases without warning, pop-up messages that block the consumer’s intended action, and independent reviews, according to information available from the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). Contains promotional material. Self-regulator of the advertising industry.
The term ‘dark patterns’ was coined by UK-based user experience designer Harry Brignole, who is known for his work in digital ethics and cognitive science. Their website cites cases where large corporations were faced with heavy fines and penalties for the use of such practices in certain markets.
Such practices fall on the wrong side of the law as consumers are often driven to make decisions based on insufficient or inaccurate information, distorting the efficient functioning of markets that would otherwise ensure the consumer more choice at the best possible price. Is.
Keeping physical information about packing and delivery charges from the consumer can lead to unexpected choices when selecting food items on a food delivery app. The app may be designed to guide consumers to make unintended choices that are beneficial to the platform or seller and not to the consumer.
Emails sent to online food delivery apps Zomato, and Swiggy and travel booking platforms Cleartrip, Goibibo and MakeMytrip on Friday remained unanswered till press time.
The Consumer Protection Act of 2019 established the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), which seeks to protect and enforce consumer rights. The Authority is empowered to intervene to prevent consumer loss.
ASCI said in a statement last year that dark patterns come in many forms and are present on many platforms.
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