SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production | SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Institutions: Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution | Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA)
On 20 November 2025, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) announced that 26 prominent e-commerce platforms operating in India have voluntarily completed internal or third-party audits and declared that their interfaces are free of the 13 “dark patterns” identified by the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023.
These platforms pledged to make audit-reports publicly accessible and undertake ongoing monitoring. The list includes major players such as:
Flipkart Internet Pvt. Ltd. (third-party audit)
Myntra Designs Pvt. Ltd. (third-party audit)
Walmart India Pvt. Ltd. (third-party audit)
MakeMyTrip (India) Pvt. Ltd. (no pre-ticked boxes)
BigBasket (Innovative Retail Concepts Pvt. Ltd.) (internal review)
JioMart (Reliance Retail Ltd.) (platform declared compliant)
Swiggy Ltd. (self-audit completed)
Meesho Ltd. (declared free of all 13 patterns)
The “dark patterns” refer to manipulative interface features including false urgency, bait & switch, subscription traps, drip pricing, and forced action. The CCPA described the self-declarations as “industry-best practice” and urged adoption across smaller platforms, while signalling potential enforcement if evidence of manipulative design persists.
The initiative marks a key shift in India’s digital-consumer-protection regime by targeting user-interface architecture—not simply textual disclaimers or contract terms. It situates consumer welfare squarely within platform-design regulation, supporting transparent choice and ethical digital experience in line with the government’s push for a trustworthy online marketplace. For regulators, the move underscores a transition from ex-post redress to ex-ante design compliance; for business, it signals that user-experience is a regulatory frontier.
What is “Bait & Switch”? → “Bait & Switch” is a manipulative design practice where a platform promises one thing to attract a user (the bait) but delivers something different, usually less desirable or more expensive (the switch).
Examples include: Showing a low price upfront but replacing it with a higher price at checkout, advertising an offer that disappears once you click, nudging you to buy something costlier, highlighting a free option but making it hard to choose, while steering users to a paid one. It misleads users into decisions they wouldn’t have taken with clear, honest information.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: How will the CCPA extend self-audit expectations to smaller firms and ensure audit-transparency reaches digitally-less-literate consumers?
Follow the full news here: 26 E-Commerce Platforms Volunteer Self-Audits to Eliminate “Dark Patterns”