The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) recently issued draft guidelines for the prevention and regulation of dark patterns. Basically, dark patterns are deceptive practices used by brands to mislead consumers into doing something they don’t actually want to do. Relatable use-cases of dark patterns include receiving messages that create a false sense of urgency, using language that evokes shame, guilt and other strong emotions, products that suddenly appear in one’s online shopping basket without them adding it, hidden prices, etc. Most of us have faced at least one of these issues during our purchasing journeys, bet it offline or online.
The guidelines issued by the DoCA, if implemented, will go a long way in mitigating a lot of these issues. Nikhil Kamath, co-founder and CEO of Zerodha, took to X to share that he too believes that the guidelines will help consumers have a better and more unfiltered shopping experience.
“My phone like for many has become unusable because of the nuisance of unsolicited calls, SMS, and WhatsApp messages I didn’t opt-in for. I waste at least 15 minutes a day marking emails as spam because, in many cases, the unsubscribe option is hidden. Then, there are the deceptive UI/UX patterns, which make things even worse. But there seems to be hope around the corner,” Kamath shared.
However, he also expressed that the regulations can also have a large impact on public and private businesses across D2C businesses, e-commerce, and financial services, including new-age fintechs and banks.
Earlier, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) published new comprehensive guidelines for ‘Online Deceptive Design Patterns in Advertising’. This was in order to empower businesses, designers and stakeholders to create user-centric experiences while promoting transparency, trust and ethical standards in the digital landscape.
As consumers turn to digital platforms, marketing strategies employed on these platforms are becoming more sophisticated and personalised. Some of these practices could be misleading or even predatory.
These deceptive practices impair the consumer’s choice to make an informed decision and are more commonly referred to as dark patterns. These practices are designed to steer consumers towards making choices that could compromise their interest in favour of the advertiser’s interest.
Manisha Kapoor, chief executive officer and secretary general, ASCI, said, “With the government and the industry echoing their belief in self-regulation, we believe that the guidelines we have issued today will play a crucial role in fostering a more ethical and trustworthy advertising ecosystem and protecting consumer trust. These guidelines will require businesses to create communication and systems that respect user autonomy, improve transparency, and encourage well-informed choices.”
Rohit Kumar Singh, secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, said, “We welcome the new ASCI guidelines related to advertising. Deceptive online patterns are also a violation of the Consumer Protection Act. We look forward to working with ASCI and the industry to support a robust self-regulatory mechanism for the larger framework on online deceptive patterns”.