Amid the government’s ongoing efforts to end use of dark patterns in the ecommerce industry, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) on Thursday (June 15) released the guidelines on ‘Online Deceptive Design Patterns in Advertising’.

The guidelines aim to counter dark patterns to promote transparency, trust, and ethical standards in the digital landscape, ASCI said in a statement.

As per the advertising watchdog, as consumers turn to digital platforms, marketing strategies employed on these platforms are becoming more sophisticated and personalised.

“Some of these practices could be misleading or even predatory. These deceptive practices impair the consumer’s choice to make an informed decision and are more commonly referred to as dark patterns,” ASCI said.

The new guidelines deal with ‘drip pricing’ issues on ecommerce platforms and quoted prices in advertisements.

Drip pricing refers to a practice whereby the real prices are not revealed upfront and the total price is disclosed at the very end of the buying process or post-confirmation of purchase.

Besides creating ambiguity around the final price, it also prevents easy price comparisons. Hence, incomplete price representations upfront would be considered misleading, ASCI said.

As per the guidelines, quoted prices in advertisements and ecommerce platforms must include
non-optional taxes, duties, fees and charges that apply to all or most buyers so as to prevent drip pricing.

“When an ad or an element in the ad directly or indirectly implies one outcome based on the consumer’s action, but instead serves an alternative outcome, the same would be considered misleading,” the guidelines added.

For example, a consumer may select a product offered at a certain price but is thereafter only able to access the same product at a higher price. Another example is offering an attractive product and later revealing that it is out of stock, and then offering an alternative product.

As per the guidelines, stating or implying that quantities of a particular product or service are
more limited than they actually are would amount to misleading consumers.

In case of any complaint, the advertisers would be required to demonstrate that the stock
position at the time of the appearance of the limited quantity message was of a level where the urgency communicated could not be considered misleading, ASCI said.

Besides, an advertisement that is of a similar format as editorial or organic content, like influencer posts, paid reviews, and ads placed in a manner to appear like editorial content, will require to disclose that it is an ad.

“With the government and the industry echoing their belief in self-regulation, we believe that the guidelines we have issued today will play a crucial role in fostering a more ethical and trustworthy advertising ecosystem and protecting consumer trust. These guidelines will require businesses to create communication and systems that respect user autonomy, improve transparency, and encourage well-informed choices,” Manisha Kapoor, CEO and Secretary General of ASCI, said.

Crackdown On Dark Patterns

The development comes a couple of days after the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA), along with ASCI, held a meeting with ecommerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, Ola, Uber, Google, Ola and Uber to end use of dark patterns in advertising.

DoCA is also looking at setting up a task force in collaboration with ASCI on the issue.

The government started working on creating guidelines to regulate the usage of dark patterns last year.

As per an ASCI report, 29% of advertisement complaints processed by it during 2021-22 were related to disguised dark pattern ads promoted by influencers. Crypto, fashion, ecommerce, personal care, food and beverage, and finance were some of the sectors promoting dark patterns to lure customers.