CCPA penalises IndiGo, Zepto, BookMyShow among 9 platforms for dark patterns
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New Delhi: The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed penalties on nine digital platforms, including IndiGo, Zepto, Physics Wallah, BookMyShow, FirstCry and SpiceJet, for using deceptive online practices known as dark patterns that allegedly misled consumers during purchases and subscriptions.
The action was disclosed by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha. The government said the regulator has intensified enforcement to protect consumers from manipulative online interfaces designed to influence purchasing decisions.
According to the ministry, the CCPA found companies using various forms of dark patterns, including drip pricing, basket sneaking, confirm shaming, subscription traps and misleading prompts, which are intended to nudge users into decisions they might not otherwise make.
The regulator has so far collected around Rs 20 lakh in penalties from companies found violating the guidelines.
In June 2025, the CCPA directed e-commerce platforms to conduct self-audits and identify as well as eliminate dark patterns from their digital services.
Among the companies penalised, quick-commerce platform Zepto Marketplace was fined Rs 7 lakh. The regulator found that additional handling charges and membership fees were introduced during the checkout process after customers had already viewed the initial price. The CCPA classified the practice as drip pricing and basket sneaking. Following the regulator's intervention, Zepto discontinued the identified practices.
Edtech platform Physics Wallah was fined Rs 5 lakh after the CCPA took suo motu cognisance of a pre-selected Rs 10 donation option linked to its PW Foundation.
The regulator observed that users were shown emotionally persuasive messages encouraging them to retain the donation selection. It also objected to the company's requirement that users provide personal information before accessing free courses. Physics Wallah has since paid the penalty and removed the practices flagged by the regulator.
The CCPA also intervened in the case of IndiGo after finding that the airline used a form of confirm shaming on its mobile application. The airline revised its user interface after the regulator objected to the opt-out message, "No I will take risk." The wording has now been changed to the more neutral, "No, I will not add to the trip."
BookMyShow was directed to discontinue its pre-selected Re 1 donation to the BookASmile initiative after the regulator classified the practice as basket sneaking.
Other entities penalised include FirstCry, which was fined Rs 2 lakh, coaching platform Anuj Jindal, which was fined Rs 3 lakh, and PharmaEasy, McAfee and SpiceJet, each of which was fined Rs 1 lakh.
With IANS inputs