NEW DELHI: The government will hold a meeting on May 28 with representatives from major e-commerce platforms across sectors such as food, travel, cosmetics, pharmacy, retail, clothing, and electronics. The aim is to address the growing problem of dark patterns manipulative design tactics used to mislead or pressure consumers online.
According to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, dark patterns include practices such as false urgency (e.g. misleading warnings about limited stock), adding unwanted items to baskets automatically, hiding extra charges, persistent pop-ups (also known as nagging), and other unfair tricks.
Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi will meet stakeholders from a wide range of companies including Amazon, Flipkart, 1mg.com, Apple, BigBasket, Meesho, Meta, MakeMyTrip, Paytm, Ola, Reliance Retail Limited, Swiggy, Zomato, Yatra, Uber, Tata, EaseMyTrip, Cleartrip, IndiaMart, IndiGo Airlines, ixigo, Justdial, Medikabazaar, Netmeds, ONDC, Thomas Cook, and WhatsApp.
