Online consumers lose over ₹25,000 cr to online traps despite norms: Survey

INdian consumers persist in to turn a loss anyplace betwixt ₹25,000 crore ($2.6 one million million) and ₹28,000 crore ($2.9 billion) annually to deceptive design practices, with enforcement struggling to keep pace, according to a new industry report.The report estimated that dark patterns, tactics that lead users into making purchases they did not intend to make, also put nearly ₹55,000 crore in gross merchandise value (GMV) at risk as frustrated users cut spending, switch platforms, or abandon purchases altogether.The report, released by market research firm Datum Intelligence, pegged the annual economic footprint of dark patterns at ₹80,000 to 83,000 crore, equivalent to roughly 7.5 to 7.8% of India’s digital commerce market, which is projected to rise to $266 billion by 2030.It said that dark patterns risked becoming embedded in everyday online transactions unless compliance and enforcement improve substantially.The findings come over two years after the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) notified guidelines prohibiting 13 categories of dark patterns, including false urgency, basket sneaking, drip pricing, and subscription traps.In November last year, the government announced that 26 leading e-commerce platforms had voluntarily submitted self-declaration letters confirming compliance with the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023.But the report, “’Dark Patterns in India’s Online Marketplaces”, said compliance remains weak across India’s online marketplaces.The report examined 12 major online platforms across e-commerce, quick commerce and travel booking services and created a “Benchmarking Index” or B-Index that combined the frequency of dark-pattern encounters, financial losses reported by users and the resulting impact on consumer trust.The rankings suggest that not all platforms cause the same level of harm, even if they deploy similar tactics.The report is based on a survey of 2,596 consumers across 50 Indian cities who actively use e-commerce, quick-commerce or online travel platforms.Quick commerce emerged as the sector with the highest overall severity score, driven largely by practices such as false urgency, nagging and forced actions. The online travel platforms, meanwhile, scored highest on checkout-related tactics such as drip pricing, basket sneaking and subscription traps.To be sure, the report does not establish that some companies committed more regulatory violations than others. Its rankings reflect consumer perceptions and the report’s own “B-Index” methodology, not findings by a regulator.Awareness ParadoxThe report noted that while 81% of respondents said they could recognise a dark pattern when shown one, 85% still acknowledged having been misled by such practices. It reasoned that consumer awareness alone was insufficient when platforms continuously optimise interfaces, defaults and checkout flows to influence user behaviour.“Knowing the trick does not slow down a checkout flow that has been optimised against you,” the report said.It also highlighted significant shortcomings in consumer grievance redressal.It said more than half of respondents said they filed complaints after detecting a dark pattern, but only 23% reported a satisfactory resolution.The report noted that the first monetary penalty under India’s dark-pattern framework was imposed only in December 2025, when a quick-commerce platform was fined ₹7 lakh for drip pricing and basket sneaking.According to the report, the gap between the guidelines’ notification in November 2023 and the first penalty highlights a broader enforcement challenge.“India lacks all three enforcement pillars. Audits: platforms grade themselves... Penalties: the ₹50L cap is about 1/200th of what one dark pattern earns in a year. Accountability: no single regulator owns enforcement,” said the report, recommending independent audits, public disclosure of platform scores and stronger penalties linked to company turnover, similar to approaches adopted in parts of Europe.