Consumer watchdog collects nearly Rs 20 lakh in penalties after finding deceptive online practices including drip pricing, basket sneaking and confirm shaming across digital platforms
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has penalised nine digital platforms, including IndiGo, Zepto, BookMyShow, Physics Wallah, FirstCry and SpiceJet, for violating the Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns Guidelines, 2023, the government informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. The consumer watchdog has collected nearly Rs 20 lakh in penalties as it steps up scrutiny of deceptive online practices that influence consumer decisions during digital transactions.
In a written reply in the Upper House, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs said the CCPA has intensified enforcement of the 2023 guidelines, which prohibit 13 forms of deceptive user-interface design. These include drip pricing, basket sneaking, false urgency, subscription traps, confirm shaming, trick questions and disguised advertisements that can influence consumers into making unintended purchases.
The ministry said ecommerce platforms were directed in June 2025 to conduct self-audits and eliminate dark patterns from their websites and applications. The latest enforcement action follows those directions and covers companies operating across aviation, quick commerce, edtech, ticketing and ecommerce.
Zepto, Physics Wallah
Zepto Marketplace received the highest penalty of Rs 7 lakh after the CCPA found that handling charges and membership fees were added during the final stage of checkout. According to the authority, displaying a lower price initially before adding mandatory charges amounted to drip pricing, while automatically enrolling users into a membership plan without explicit consent constituted basket sneaking. The government said the platform has since discontinued both practices.
Physics Wallah was fined Rs 5 lakh after the CCPA took suo motu cognisance of a pre-selected Rs 10 donation to the PW Foundation. The authority also objected to emotionally persuasive prompts encouraging users to retain the donation and to the requirement that users provide personal information before accessing free courses. According to the government, the company has paid the penalty and removed the identified practices.
IndiGo Changes Prompt
The regulator also acted against IndiGo over the use of confirm shaming on its mobile application. Following the CCPA’s intervention, the airline replaced the opt-out message, “No I will take risk”, with “No, I will not add to the trip”, removing wording that the authority considered capable of nudging users towards purchasing additional services.
BookMyShow was directed to remove a pre-selected Re 1 donation linked to its BookASmile initiative after the CCPA found the feature amounted to basket sneaking.
Other companies penalised include FirstCry, which was fined Rs 2 lakh, coaching platform Anuj Jindal, which was fined Rs 3 lakh, and PharmaEasy, McAfee and SpiceJet, each of which was fined Rs 1 lakh. According to the government, these companies were instructed to discontinue practices such as hidden charges, forced subscriptions, misleading countdown timers and manipulative prompts related to subscription renewals.
Consumer Impact
The government’s action comes amid growing concern over the financial impact of deceptive online design practices. According to Datum Intelligence’s report, ‘Dark Patterns in India’s Online Marketplaces’, Indian consumers lose between Rs 25,000 crore and Rs 28,000 crore annually because of such practices. The study estimates that nearly 88 per cent of the country’s 304 million online shoppers lose between Rs 78 and Rs 87 every month.
The report also found that 63 per cent of online payment users encountered hidden charges or drip pricing during digital transactions, up from 52 per cent in 2024. It said 73 per cent of the platforms studied used forced-action techniques, while 69 per cent relied on drip pricing by revealing additional charges only at the final stage of checkout. More than half also employed bait-and-switch tactics, where the final product, service or price differed from what had originally been advertised.
As digital commerce expands, the CCPA’s latest enforcement signals closer regulatory scrutiny of user-interface practices that can distort consumer choice, with platforms expected to review their checkout processes and subscription flows to ensure compliance with the Dark Patterns Guidelines.
