Dark Patterns in Digital Interfaces

A dark pattern is a deceptive design practice used in a digital interface to manipulate a user's behaviour. Under India’s 2023 Guidelines, it is a user-interface or user-experience interaction designed to mislead or trick users into doing something they did not originally intend or want, by subverting or impairing their autonomy, decision-making or choice, and thereby amounting to a misleading advertisement, unfair trade practice or violation of consumer rights.

Legal basis and scope

The Central Consumer Protection Authority issued the Guidelines under Section 18 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. They apply to platforms systematically offering goods or services in India, advertisers and sellers.

• No person, including a platform, may engage in a dark pattern.
• The prohibition connects deceptive interface design with existing consumer-law categories rather than treating it merely as poor design.

Recognised forms

The Annexure identifies 13 specified dark patterns: 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 malware.

• False urgency creates artificial scarcity or time pressure, while basket sneaking adds products or charges without informed consent.
• Interface interference obscures relevant information, and drip pricing reveals unavoidable costs only gradually.
• Subscription traps obstruct cancellation; confirm shaming and nagging use pressure or repeated interruptions to influence users.

Consumer and child-protection significance

The definition focuses on whether the interface undermines consumer autonomy and informed choice, not merely whether it contains a false statement. This is especially relevant for children and other users who may have limited ability to recognise commercial persuasion, hidden costs or manipulative defaults.

• Platforms remain accountable for how choices, buttons, disclosures and cancellation processes are designed.
• A practice becomes legally relevant when its deceptive design amounts to a misleading advertisement, unfair trade practice or violation of consumer rights.