Rohit Kumar Singh, the former Secretary of the Department of Consumer Affairs, has called out cab aggregators as “one of the biggest culprits” in the deceptive landscape of dark patterns.
Speaking on the sidelines of the unveiling of the web report titled ‘Conscious Patterns,’ Singh shared, “What troubles me most is this subscription trap- companies are wanting to use it more and more. It is difficult to get out of it since it is directly related to revenue; to subscribe in, you need one click, but to subscribe out, you need nine and more clicks.”
The ASCI Academy, in collaboration with Parallel HQ, a design firm, has identified the prevalence of deceptive patterns in popular Indian apps.
The report identified 12 distinct deceptive patterns, including privacy deception, interface interference, drip pricing, and false urgency, which are popularly used in online interfaces. Privacy deception emerged as the most prevalent deceptive pattern, observed in 79% of the apps analysed, followed by interface interference (45%), drip pricing (43%), and false urgency (32%). The results highlighted the urgent need for more conscious effort in app development.
In the past, DoCA has summoned the cab and two-wheeler aggregators to come clean on their charges and algorithms, as consumer angst and frustration with these services rose to alarming levels. The Department also formed a consultation group to address the issue of fake online reviews.
In June 2023, ASCI released guidelines on deceptive patterns that are mainly used in advertising. Further, the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) released its guidelines for 13 deceptive patterns in November 2023. According to the guidelines, the use of any of these prescribed dark patterns amounts to a misleading advertisement, an unfair trade practice, or a violation of consumer rights. Dark patterns are deceptive UI/UX practices that can mislead or trick users into doing something they originally did not intend or want to do.
Singh further pointed out that Indians have a mixed attitude toward privacy- which remains the biggest challenge.
“Consumers have to be careful when they are clicking left, right, and center. Sites want to sell more; they want to manipulate your behavior; there is a thin line between marketing and unethical trading practices. If the entire ecosystem has the same definition in mind, then it is very easy to check this. Of course there will be violators, but most of the people wanting to be within the four walls of law will not violate. Unless you address the definitional issue, it will be difficult; we have faced this in the online gaming and digital competition bill,” he said.
He also admitted that the landscape is very huge, as a result of which the government neither wants nor has the wherewithal to check it. “We work on our own detections, and when consumers, NGOs, and ASCI complain, we take action. As a regulator, the best way to handle it is by catching one bad guy, making it an example, and creating a deterrent for others,” he added.
“Ultimately, CEO and management have to resolve this and discover the fine line between marketing and compliance; regulation will happen as you cannot take consumers for a ride unless you are an Uber and Ola, and that too we will catch,” he concluded.