Govt. banned "dark patterns" on e-commerce platforms

It's great that the Indian government is taking steps to protect consumers from deceptive practices by e-commerce platforms. The ban on "dark patterns" is a significant step in ensuring that consumers have access to fair and transparent information when making purchasing decisions.

In the emerging digital commerce, dark patterns are increasingly being used by the platforms to mislead the consumers by manipulating their buying choices and behavior.

A gazette notification in this regard as "Guidelines for prevention and regulation of dark patterns" was issued on November 30 by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) which is applicable to all platforms offering goods and services in India, and even advertisers and sellers.

13 dark patterns have been banned. This includes practices like creating a sense of urgency or scarcity, hiding important information, and making it difficult to unsubscribe from services.

The ban applies to all platforms offering goods and services in India. This means that all e-commerce platforms, regardless of their size or location, must comply with the new guidelines.

The ban also applies to advertisers and sellers. This means that they cannot use dark patterns to promote their products or services.

The CCPA will be responsible for enforcing the ban. This means that they will investigate complaints and take action against companies that violate the guidelines.

This is a positive development for consumer protection in India. By banning dark patterns, the government is making it easier for consumers to make informed decisions about their purchases. This will help to create a fairer and more transparent e-commerce market in India.

Another dark pattern called "forced action" means forcing a user into taking an action that would require the user to buy any additional goods 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 by the user.

According to the notification, dark patterns have been defined 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.