Hidden fees, difficulty in unsubscribing, false urgency: India to soon act against online dark patterns

Describing several practices by online travel, hospitality and e-commerce portals as violative of consumer rights; she pointed out that many e-commerce sites create a fake urgency and scarcity of products to compel consumers to buy. She explained that free delivery of products is often used as bait to compel consumers to buy products they don't want, or consumers are led to subscribe to certain channels, where they can't locate the link for exit or unsubscribe in a few clicks.

Online dark patterns are already defined under the EU's Digital Services Act, California's Privacy Rights Act and the OECD Committee on Consumer Policy. The Norwegian Consumer Authority had acted against Amazon for keeping the route to unsubscribe from service as inordinately longer than the subscription itself, while the United States had asked the online game Fortnite to refund $245 million to consumers for charging money without consent, secretly saving credit card information and for a confusing purchase process resulting in unwanted charges.

Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said that the department is in touch with SEBI as the latter is drafting a set of guidelines for financial influencers, which they'll put in the public domain for consultation. Reminding that social media influencers are mandated to disclose their material connected with the products they're endorsing, he stated that the consumer who is watching should know whether the endorsement is paid or an honest opinion.

While he said that guidelines are already in place and the government is engaging with social media influencers for self-regulation, he added that necessary action will be taken if influencers cross the line. He clarified that Health influencers will have to declare if they're doctors or nutritionists if they're offering specific advice on health for protein, medicine or any chemical product.