CCPA fines nine platforms over dark patterns; Zepto draws ₹7 lakh penalty
India’s consumer regulator has collected about ₹20 lakh in penalties from nine digital platforms for dark-pattern practices. Zepto Marketplace was fined ₹7 lakh over handling fees and automatic membership inclusion, while BookMyShow and IndiGo changed interfaces following intervention.
What happened
India's CCPA penalised nine digital platforms over dark patterns, collecting about ₹20 lakh. Zepto received ₹7 lakh for handling fees and automatic membership
Key facts
- ₹20 lakh total penalties collected
- ₹7 lakh penalty on Zepto Marketplace
- ₹5 lakh penalty on Physics Wallah
- ₹2 lakh penalty on FirstCry
- ₹3 lakh penalty on Anuj Jindal
- ₹1 lakh penalty each on PharmEasy, McAfee and SpiceJet
- 13 dark-pattern practices identified under 2023 guidelines
- June 2025 CCPA self-audit advisory
Why this matters
Treat dark-pattern exposure as a diligence issue in digital-commerce deals, with targets’ pricing disclosures, membership mechanics and consent flows requiring explicit compliance review.
What to watch
- CCPA notices, show-cause orders or additional penalties involving quick-commerce, food delivery, travel, ticketing or large marketplaces.
- Publication of detailed dark-pattern enforcement criteria, category-specific advisories or larger repeat-offender fines.
- A rise in consumer complaints related to platform fees, auto-renewal, cancellation friction or membership enrollment.
- App updates removing prechecked boxes, renaming handling fees, moving fee disclosure earlier or adding cancellation dashboards.
- Court challenges or appeals that clarify CCPA authority, evidentiary standards and penalty exposure.
- State consumer commission cases or Ministry of Consumer Affairs action that broadens enforcement beyond the initial platforms.
- Audit checkout journeys for late-stage handling, platform, delivery, convenience and payment fees; display unavoidable charges before basket or checkout commitment.
- Replace default-selected memberships, insurance, add-ons and recurring plans with explicit opt-in consent and a clear price-duration disclosure.
- Create an India-specific dark-pattern review process involving legal, product, growth and UX teams before experimentation launches.
- Measure conversion, cancellation, refund and customer-support effects after disclosure changes; shift growth targets away from tactics dependent on hidden-fee yield.
- Prepare regulator-ready records of interface versions, consent logs, fee rationale, complaint handling and remediation actions.
- Monitor competitors' fee disclosures, as transparent pricing could become a differentiator for platforms willing to absorb or simplify charges.