Government To Launch New Apps To Combat Dark Patterns Of E-commerce Companies

The Department of Consumer Affairs is set to launch three new apps in a bid to enhance consumer protection against deceptive online practices known as "dark patterns".

These apps — 'Jago Grahak Jago App,' 'Jagriti App,' and 'Jagriti Dashboard' — will be launched on Dec. 24, coinciding with National Consumer Day, according to an official statement released on Sunday.

Dark patterns refer to manipulative design strategies that trick consumers into making choices they might not otherwise make, such as hidden charges or misleading subscription traps. In 2023, the Central Consumer Protection Authority issued guidelines outlining 13 specific dark patterns, including practices like false urgency, basket sneaking, confirm shaming, forced action, subscription traps, interface interference, bait and switch, drip pricing, disguised advertisements, trick wording, SaaS billing and rogue malwares, which undermine transparency and consumer rights.

Previously, the CCPA has taken action against major companies such as IndiGo airlines and BookMyShow for employing such tactics.

For instance, BookMyShow was criticised for automatically adding a donation charge without consumer consent, a practice categorised as 'basket sneaking'. Following CCPA intervention, the platform now offers consumers the option to opt-in for such contributions.

Similarly, IndiGo faced scrutiny for using "confirm shaming" tactics in its app, which pressured users into confirming purchases.

After CCPA's intervention, IndiGo revised its wording to "No, I will not add to the trip", to be more neutral, enhancing clarity for consumers.

The wordings used earlier were “No I will take risk”, which amounted to ‘confirm shaming' which is a dark pattern.

In another issue, the airline was directed to address the issue with the "skip" button on the "selection of seat" page and redesign their web check-in page. Accordingly, the airline addressed the issue of 'preferential seating' by modification of their website and app by providing a disclaimer on the left side of "skip button", where it is written that "You can skip preferred seat selection and complete your booking. IndiGo will auto-assign a seat prior to your travel”.

The new apps are designed to strengthen the CCPA's ability to fight these unfair practices in the digital marketplace, according to the statement.

These apps will serve multiple functions. The 'Jago Grahak Jago App' will alert users about potentially unsafe URLs during their online activities, while the 'Jagriti App' will allow consumers to report suspected dark patterns directly. The 'Jagriti Dashboard' will enable the CCPA to generate real-time reports on e-commerce sites, facilitating quicker identification and resolution of consumer complaints.

The launch of these app is part of the department's agenda for the first 100 days after the formation of the next government. These initiatives stem from extensive research conducted by students at IIT (BHU) and are powered by advanced AI technology. They aim to create a more transparent digital marketplace, improve consumer awareness of their rights, and encourage ethical design practices among companies.

As many as 52 top apps, of the 53 surveyed in India, were found to be using dark patterns for marketing, according to recent study by the Advertising Standards Council of India. Health-tech online platforms topped the list, followed by travel and fintech. These problematic apps have been downloaded 2,100 crore times, and on an average, 2.7 deceptive patterns were used per app, the study noted, flagging the impact on consumer behaviour because of such practices.