Short answer: India banned dark patterns in 2023. The Central Consumer Protection Authority’s Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023, notified on 30 November 2023, name thirteen specific practices and prohibit all of them for any platform systematically offering goods or services in India. Engaging in a listed dark pattern amounts to an unfair trade practice or misleading advertisement under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. This page lists all thirteen, in plain language, with what each looks like in the wild.
Consumer information, not legal advice. The guidelines themselves are published by the CCPA under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
What a dark pattern actually is
The guidelines define dark patterns as practices in the design of a user interface that mislead or trick users into doing something they did not originally intend, or that subvert or impair consumer autonomy, decision-making or choice. The key idea is design as deception. Nothing in the copy has to be literally false; the manipulation lives in layout, defaults, timing and friction — which is precisely why it went unregulated for so long.
The scope is broad. The guidelines apply to platforms systematically offering goods or services in India, to advertisers, and to sellers. They do not depend on the platform being Indian-owned.
The thirteen listed dark patterns
| # | Dark pattern | What it means | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | False urgency | Falsely stating or implying scarcity or time pressure to rush a purchase. | “Only 2 left!” on unlimited stock; a countdown that resets when you reload the page. |
| 2 | Basket sneaking | Adding items — products, services, donations, insurance — to the cart or total without the user’s consent. | A protection plan or convenience fee that appears in the basket by itself at checkout. |
| 3 | Confirm shaming | Using guilt, shame or fear in the wording to push a chosen action. | Decline buttons written as “No thanks, I don’t care about saving money.” |
| 4 | Forced action | Forcing a purchase, a sign-up, or the sharing of information as a condition of the thing you actually came for. | Being unable to read a page or complete a return without subscribing or installing an app. |
| 5 | Subscription trap | Making cancellation impossible or excessively difficult, hiding the cancel option, or auto-debiting a free trial without clear consent. | Signing up in two taps; cancelling requires an email to support and a phone call. |
| 6 | Interface interference | Designing the interface to highlight the information the platform wants noticed and obscure the rest. | A giant “Accept all” button beside a grey, low-contrast “Reject”; a close button that is nearly invisible. |
| 7 | Bait and switch | Advertising one outcome and delivering another once the user acts. | A heavily discounted item that is always “unavailable” and swapped for a costlier alternative. |
| 8 | Drip pricing | Not revealing the full price up front, or adding charges only after the user is committed. | A fare that grows by convenience fees, handling and platform charges only at the final step. |
| 9 | Disguised advertisement | Presenting an advertisement as editorial content, user content, or an organic listing. | Sponsored placements styled identically to genuine search results, without labelling. |
| 10 | Nagging | Repeated, persistent interruptions asking for the same thing after the user has declined. | The notification permission prompt that reappears on every visit forever. |
| 11 | Trick question | Deliberate confusing phrasing, such as double negatives, to misdirect a choice. | “Untick if you do not wish to not receive offers.” |
| 12 | SaaS billing | Extracting recurring payments by exploiting a subscriber’s inertia or lack of awareness. | A trial that silently converts to an annual plan; renewal at a much higher rate with no notice. |
| 13 | Rogue malwares | Using ransomware or scareware to mislead users into believing there is a problem and pay for a fix. | “Your device is infected — download this cleaner now” injected into a page. |
The ones people meet most often
Three of the thirteen account for most everyday encounters, and all three are easy to catch once named:
- Drip pricing is now so normal in travel and food delivery that consumers price-compare on a number that nobody actually pays. The test is simple: does the figure on the listing match the figure on the payment screen? If not, that gap is the dark pattern.
- Subscription trap is asymmetric friction. Count the taps to subscribe, then count the taps to cancel. If the second number is several times the first, the design is the point.
- Interface interference is measured in contrast and size. On a consent dialog, if one option is a filled, coloured, full-width button and the other is grey text at the bottom, the choice has been made for you.
What you can do about it
- Screenshot it. Dark patterns are interface facts and interfaces change weekly. A screenshot with a visible date is the whole evidentiary basis of a complaint.
- Complain to the platform’s grievance officer first, naming the practice. Using the guideline’s own vocabulary — “this is basket sneaking under the CCPA Dark Patterns Guidelines, 2023” — changes how a complaint is triaged.
- Escalate to the National Consumer Helpline on 1915, which accepts complaints about unfair trade practices.
- File with the CCPA through the consumer-affairs channels, or with a consumer commission via e-Daakhil, where you have suffered a loss.
- For a charge you did not agree to, do both: complain and separately dispute the payment with your card issuer.
If you run a platform
The compliance question is not “is our copy true” but “does our design leave the user’s choice intact”. Four checks catch most exposure: show the final payable amount at the first price the user sees; make cancellation take no more steps than signing up did; give accept and reject equal visual weight; and label every paid placement. Each of those is cheap to implement and each maps directly onto a listed pattern.
Note also that a genuine countdown on a genuine offer is not a dark pattern. Scarcity that is real, disclosed and accurate remains entirely lawful. The prohibition attaches to the falsity and the manipulation, not to persuasion as such.
Frequently asked questions
Are dark patterns illegal in India?
Yes. The Central Consumer Protection Authority notified the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns on 30 November 2023, prohibiting thirteen named practices. Engaging in any of them can constitute an unfair trade practice or a misleading advertisement under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, with the enforcement consequences that follow.
How many dark patterns are listed in the Indian guidelines?
Thirteen: false urgency, basket sneaking, confirm shaming, forced action, subscription trap, interface interference, bait and switch, drip pricing, disguised advertisement, nagging, trick question, SaaS billing, and rogue malwares.
Is drip pricing a dark pattern?
Yes. Drip pricing is one of the thirteen listed practices. It covers not revealing the full price up front and revealing additional charges only after the consumer has committed — including surprise convenience, handling or platform fees added at the payment step.
What can I do if an app makes it impossible to cancel a subscription?
That is the “subscription trap” pattern. Screenshot the cancellation flow, complain in writing to the platform’s grievance officer naming the practice, and escalate to the National Consumer Helpline on 1915 if it is not resolved. Separately, instruct your bank or card issuer to stop the standing mandate so the charges do not continue while the complaint runs.
Do the dark pattern rules apply to foreign websites?
The guidelines apply to platforms systematically offering goods or services in India, which is a functional test rather than one based on where a company is incorporated. A foreign-owned service that markets to and transacts with Indian consumers is within scope.
Is a “only 3 left in stock” message always a dark pattern?
No. If the stock figure is accurate, displaying it is ordinary and useful information. It becomes false urgency — a listed dark pattern — when the scarcity or the deadline is fabricated or misrepresented, for instance a counter that never changes or a timer that restarts on every page load.
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