Online shopping is easy, it is true. You can order the products of your choice from home at your convenience. But as good as it is, it also has its drawbacks. The e-commerce and quick commerce market has grown rapidly in the last few years. Every day we order something online. Be it booking a cab or ordering food, ordering groceries or hiring a domestic help. Sometimes, unexpected fees are seen on the checkout page while ordering or booking. Donation checkboxes, pre-selected insurance/other add-ons, new subscription or renewal checkboxes come up. If one is in a hurry, one pays these unnecessary fees without looking. Money goes out of the user’s pocket and the company’s assets are lost. Usually, while shopping online, if there are additional charges or hidden charges added at the end of the bill, a product is added to the cart without permission, or an app repeatedly pressures the customer to buy an item, then it is likely that the concerned customer is a victim of dark patterns.
Sometimes shopping apps show that there is limited stock without giving the actual stock information. They pressure the customer to buy immediately before the stock runs out. These are the tricks or tricks of the companies. A strategy to attract customers. According to a new report, Indian consumers lose between Rs 25,000 crore and Rs 28,000 crore every year due to such misleading digital methods. According to the report ‘Dark Patterns in India’s Online Marketplace’ by market research firm Datum Intelligence, 88% of the country’s 340 million online users are affected by some kind of dark patterns. According to the report, each affected customer is losing an average of Rs 78 to Rs 87 per month.
Dark patterns are designed to trick customers into making decisions they would not normally make. The goal is to make them spend more, collect additional information from them, or make them make unnecessary purchases. These include strategies such as showing false countdown timers, adding hidden charges during checkout, adding products to carts without permission, and making subscriptions easy to start but hard to cancel. An extended warranty service is bundled when buying an electronic device or consumer durable. A membership plan is bundled when ordering food for free delivery and other benefits. A travel insurance or cancellation insurance plan is bundled when booking a flight ticket. These are all strategies to rob users.
Hidden charges are a big problem
According to the report, 63% of online payment users have faced hidden charges. That is, additional charges can be added during billing. This figure was 52% in 2024. This means that this problem is increasing. Apart from this, forced actions have been seen on 73% of the platforms surveyed. In this, the user is forced to choose such options, which they would not have selected in a normal situation.
85% of people get trapped knowingly
The most surprising fact that has come to light in the report is that 81% of users can identify dark patterns. In fact, 85% of people get trapped in such traps on real platforms. When the user suffers a loss, 53% of people complain to the relevant platform. But out of these, only 23% get a satisfactory solution.
Which areas are most problematic
The survey is based on an analysis of 2,590 consumers in 50 cities and 12 major platforms in the e-commerce, quick commerce and online travel sectors in the first quarter of 2026. According to the report, drip pricing is most prevalent in the online travel sector. Similarly, taxes and other charges come up at the time of final payment. False urgency i.e. pressure to buy quickly is most prevalent in quick commerce platforms.
Guidelines are in place, compliance needs improvement
People’s trust in online platforms is decreasing due to dark patterns. Guidelines are in place but compliance needs improvement. The Central Consumer Protection Authority has issued an advisory to strengthen compliance. It has also taken action on some platforms. However, compliance needs further improvement.
