IndiGo Flyers Faced 'Bait & Switch Dark Pattern' Amid Flight Chaos Last Week: Survey

Over 80% of Indian airline passengers experience dark patterns, deceptive website and app design tactics while booking air tickets, according to a survey by LocalCircles. As per the findings, IndiGo flyers faced "bait and switch" tactics even amid the flight chaos that erupted last week.

Over the past year, IndiGo emerged as the most frequently reported airline for the alleged practices, the survey said.

The study, which gathered over 124,000 responses from users across 302 districts, found that processes like booking, seat assignment, and especially cancellation and refunds are clouded with deliberate design tactics that impose hidden charges or manipulate consumer choices.

The complaints of dark patterns, according to LocalCircles, saw a massive jump during the airline’s major disruption last week, which saw over 5,000 flight cancellations.

About 64% of surveyed consumers experienced forced action, making it the most prevalent dark pattern. The customers claimed to face this despite IndiGo announcing unconditional cancellations and full refunds. However, the cancellation option was greyed out on the app, forcing users to opt only for modification, as alleged by participants of the survey.

The LocalCircles report claimed that during this period of disruption, customers claimed to have received only a partial amount of refund after cancelling their flights, despite the airline promising full refund.

In one case cited, a user who paid Rs 39,180 was only offered Rs 1,788 back, despite the promise of a full return, it said.

NDTV Profit could not independently verify the allegations.

The study also goes on to flag several other deceptive practices allegedly prevalent across the industry, like drip pricing, false urgency and others.

Drip pricing was experienced by 80% of consumers. This involves hidden charges that are not shown upfront, such as "convenience fees" or "platform fees," which only appear at the final payment stage.

This practice was reported to be common on Air India, SpiceJet, and Akasa.

About 35% of consumers reported facing "confirm shaming" dark pattern , which is experiencing language designed to guilt or shame them into accepting optional services like insurance, such as a message stating, "I will stay unsecured," if they decline.

False urgency and nagging were also reported by 56% and 40% of consumers, respectively. LocalCircles stated that the Central Consumer Protection Authority must study these dark patterns and ensure compliance among airlines.