Major E-commerce Platforms Pledge Compliance with Dark Patterns Regulations
In a significant development for India's digital consumer rights landscape, 26 leading e-commerce platforms including industry giants like Flipkart, Zomato, and Blinkit have voluntarily submitted self-declaration letters confirming their compliance with the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023. The Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution announced this landmark achievement on Thursday, November 20, 2025, marking what it called a "significant milestone in India's efforts to curb deceptive online design practices that mislead or manipulate consumers."
Comprehensive Self-Audits and Industry-Wide Commitment
According to the official statement released by the Ministry, these prominent platforms have conducted thorough internal self-audits or third-party audits to systematically identify, assess, and eliminate any presence of dark patterns from their user interfaces. All 26 companies have formally declared that their platforms are now free from dark patterns and do not deploy any manipulative user interface designs that could compromise consumer autonomy.
The complete list of compliant platforms includes:
- Flipkart
- Meesho
- Reliance Digital
- JioMart
- Hemleys
- Zomato
- Blinkit
- Ajio
The Ministry emphasized that this proactive industry-wide compliance demonstrates a strong commitment toward consumer transparency, fair trade practices, and ethical digital ecosystems. This voluntary alignment underscores that consumer protection and business growth can go hand-in-hand, ultimately strengthening brand trust and long-term credibility in the competitive e-commerce market.
Understanding Dark Patterns and Regulatory Framework
The government had initially released the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns on November 30, 2023, providing a comprehensive framework to combat deceptive digital practices. These guidelines define dark patterns as "any practices or deceptive design pattern using user interface or user experience interactions on any platform that is designed to mislead or trick users to do something they originally did not intend or want to do, by subverting or impairing the consumer autonomy, decision making or choice, amounting to misleading advertisement or unfair trade practice or violation of consumer rights."
The regulations specifically identify and prohibit 13 types of dark patterns that have become prevalent across digital platforms:
- False urgency
- Basket sneaking
- Confirm shaming
- Forced action
- Subscription trap
- Interface interference
- Bait and switch
- Drip pricing
- Disguised advertisements
- Nagging
- Trick wording
- SaaS billing
- Rogue malware
Regulatory Appreciation and Future Enforcement
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), India's premier consumer watchdog, has appreciated these voluntary declarations, terming them exemplary and encouraging other companies to adopt similar self-regulation practices. The CCPA has strongly urged all other e-commerce platforms, marketplace entities, service providers, and app developers to follow the example set by these 26 pioneering companies.
In its statement, the Ministry made it clear that every business operating in India's digital space must recognize that manipulative practices are short-sighted strategies that harm both consumers and businesses in the long run. The regulatory body has been actively educating consumers about identifying dark patterns and reporting them through multiple channels including the National Consumer Helpline (NCH), social media campaigns, informative videos, and outreach programs.
The Ministry confirmed that complaints regarding dark patterns are being systematically addressed, and enforcement action is being contemplated wherever necessary. The CCPA has reaffirmed that it is maintaining a close watch on potential violations and will not hesitate to act against errant platforms that continue to employ these deceptive practices, ensuring a fair and transparent digital marketplace for Indian consumers.
