Dark Patterns, Explained: The digital design tactics misleading millions

The government is turning up the pressure on major technology and e-commerce companies to eliminate so-called "dark patterns", deceptive design tactics embedded in digital platforms that can mislead or manipulate consumers.

At a high-level meeting convened by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs on Tuesday, representatives from Amazon, Apple, Swiggy, Paytm, Ola, WhatsApp and other digital platforms were called upon to rein in such practices and to publicly disclose audit results related to their user interface designs.

Pralhad Joshi, Minister of Consumer Affairs, emphasized the government’s commitment to protecting consumer rights, singling out specific tactics such as the “advance tip” feature on ride-hailing apps like Ola, Uber and Rapido. These pre-selected gratuity prompts, Joshi said, may require reevaluation and possible redesign. Companies will be granted a short window to make necessary corrections.

The term “dark patterns” was first coined in 2010 by British UX specialist Harry Brignull to describe interface designs that deliberately steer users toward decisions they might not otherwise make—such as signing up for unwanted services or revealing personal information. These manipulative tactics, regulators say, compromise informed consumer choice and can lead to unethical marketing and breaches of trust.

In 2023, India officially recognized 13 types of dark patterns as unfair trade practices under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. Offenders can face fines of up to ₹20 lakh and imprisonment of up to six months.

A Closer Look at Common Tactics

Among the patterns identified:

Confirm Shaming: Using guilt-inducing language or visuals to dissuade users from opting out of offers or subscriptions.

Basket Sneaking: Automatically adding items to a shopper’s cart during checkout without explicit consent.

False Urgency: Creating a false sense of limited availability to spur hasty purchases.

Forced Action: Requiring users to take unnecessary actions—like sharing personal data—to complete a task.

Subscription Trap: Making it deliberately difficult to cancel recurring services.

Interface Interference: Obscuring or highlighting information in a way that distorts decision-making.

Bait and Switch: Advertising one product or outcome, then delivering another.

Drip Pricing: Concealing additional costs until the final stages of checkout.

Disguised Ads: Presenting paid content or promotions as organic or editorial material.

Nagging: Bombarding users with repeated prompts or pop-ups.

Trick Wording: Using confusing language to mislead users.

SaaS Billing: Implementing opaque recurring billing in software services.

Rogue Malware Alerts: Employing scareware to trick users into unnecessary downloads or purchases.

Data Points and Industry Impact

A 2023 study by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) found that 52 out of 53 apps examined employed dark patterns, with health-tech platforms leading the trend. Travel and fintech apps also registered high usage. These apps, collectively downloaded over 21 billion times, deployed an average of 2.7 dark patterns each.

Privacy deception emerged as the most frequent violation, followed by interface interference, drip pricing, and false urgency.

An independent 18-month survey conducted by citizen platform LocalCircles, covering responses from over 230,000 consumers and 228 platforms, confirmed that dark patterns were pervasive in sectors including e-commerce, digital banking, edtech, travel, ride-hailing and streaming. The two most common practices were forced action (54%) and drip pricing (48%).

Tools for the Digital Age Consumer

In response, the government has introduced three consumer-facing tools developed in partnership with the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU):

Jagriti App: Enables users to detect and report instances of dark patterns.

Jago Grahak Jago App: Provides real-time safety ratings for e-commerce platforms.

Jagriti Dashboard: Helps regulators track and assess deceptive UX practices across digital services.

These tools aim to empower users and strengthen regulatory oversight in a digital economy increasingly driven by algorithmic influence and opaque design choices.

As the digital economy matures, the challenge for regulators will be balancing innovation with transparency—and ensuring that consumer trust is not sacrificed in pursuit of growth.

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