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Indian online shopping is governed by two connected compliance layers: the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 and its subordinate rules for personal-data handling, plus consumer-protection law covering e-commerce conduct and manipulative interfaces. A store should obtain clear, affirmative consent, show the full price and data conditions before checkout, offer an equally visible decline route, and never preselect donations, insurance, subscriptions or other extras. The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) is actively enforcing these expectations: on 3 June 2026 it announced penalties against PhysicsWallah and McAfee for interfaces involving preselected payments, emotional pressure, misleading “free” claims and coercive renewal choices.
Which Indian laws apply to an e-commerce website?
No single statute answers every online-shopping question. A compliant service usually has to apply a data-protection layer and a consumer-interface layer at the same time.
Data protection: DPDP Act 2023 and Rules 2025
The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 is India’s statutory framework for processing digital personal data. The Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 provide subordinate operational detail. The Act and rules should be read together, but the exact commencement dates, transitional provisions and any exemptions must be checked in the operative notifications and notified rule text. A business should not assume that a provision is enforceable merely because it appears in the Act or a published draft or summary.
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Consumer protection: Consumer Protection Act 2019 and E-Commerce Rules 2020
The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 is the parent consumer statute. The Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 operate under it and set responsibilities and liabilities for marketplace and inventory models, including customer grievance redressal. They address how an e-commerce entity presents products, sellers, prices, refunds and complaints; they are not a substitute for the DPDP data-protection analysis.
Interface manipulation: Dark Patterns Guidelines 2023
On 30 November 2023, the CCPA issued the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023 under section 18 of the Consumer Protection Act. The CCPA describes dark patterns as design or choice architecture used “to deceive, coerce, or influence consumers into making choices that are not in their best interest.” The guidelines identify 13 specified dark patterns. The official examples include drip pricing, disguised advertisements, bait and switch and false urgency. A 2026 enforcement release also discusses basket sneaking, confirm shaming, forced action, interface interference and trick questions.
What counts as a dark pattern in online shopping?
A dark pattern is not simply a colourful button or an aggressive sales message. It is a design choice that materially distorts a customer’s understanding or freedom of choice. The same visual element can be harmless in one context and manipulative in another, so the full journey matters: advertisement, landing page, product page, cart, checkout, payment confirmation, renewal and cancellation.
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Basket sneaking occurs when an item or service is inserted into the cart without a customer deliberately choosing it. Common examples are a donation, shipping protection, insurance, warranty, tip or recurring membership added by default. A customer who clicks “Pay” without noticing the extra may have paid for something never affirmatively selected. The safer design is an unchecked option with a plain description, separate price and an equally visible way to leave it unselected.
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Confirm shaming and emotional pressure
Confirm shaming uses guilt, fear or embarrassment to discourage a decline choice. “No, I want to risk my family’s safety” is a classic pattern. A neutral decline label such as “Continue without protection” communicates the consequence without insulting the customer. Emotional copy can still explain a genuine risk, but it should not make refusal appear irresponsible or irrational.
Forced action and unnecessary data
Forced action prevents a person from completing a purchase or accessing advertised content unless they perform an unrelated action, such as subscribing to marketing or surrendering a phone number. If a field is necessary for delivery, fraud prevention or account security, explain that purpose at the point of collection. If it is for advertising, make that optional and provide a real alternative.
Interface interference and trick questions
Interface interference gives one choice visual prominence or uses confusing wording so that the customer’s likely selection benefits the business. Trick questions use negatives, double negatives or mismatched labels. A page that says “Renew Now” beside a button labelled “Accept Risk,” for example, can force a customer to decode what each choice means instead of making a straightforward decision.
Other named patterns
Drip pricing reveals mandatory charges only late in the journey. Disguised advertisements make paid promotion look like neutral content. Bait and switch advertises one product or condition and substitutes another. False urgency uses an unsupported countdown or scarcity claim. The 13-pattern list in the 2023 guidelines should be used as a floor for review, not as permission to use a new manipulation that has a different label.
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Are pre-ticked consent boxes legal in India?
They are a high-risk design and should not be used for consent. In its 3 June 2026 enforcement communication, the CCPA stated that consumer consent cannot be assumed through pre-selected options and must be obtained through a clear and affirmative action. A pre-ticked box for marketing, a donation, insurance or a data-sharing purpose therefore fails the basic affirmative-choice expectation unless the customer actively selects it and the surrounding disclosure is clear.
Do not confuse a prefilled factual field with consent. A shipping address remembered in an account may be convenience functionality; an already-selected “I agree to promotional calls and partner sharing” box is a purported permission. The interface should distinguish required acceptance of the transaction’s terms from optional permissions, use plain language, and keep decline as easy to find as accept.
A safer consent flow
- State the purpose. Say what data is requested and why, such as delivery, payment security, account recovery or marketing.
- Separate optional purposes. Keep advertising, partner sharing, donations, insurance and memberships outside the mandatory purchase path unless genuinely necessary for the product.
- Start unselected. Use unchecked boxes or an equivalent affirmative control for optional consent.
- Make choices balanced. Present accept and decline in comparable size, colour, placement and language.
- Record the action. Keep the version of the notice, time, purpose and customer action so the business can demonstrate what was agreed.
- Provide withdrawal. A customer should be able to revoke optional consent through a route that is no harder than giving it.
Can a store add a donation, insurance or subscription automatically?
Automatically adding an optional paid item is a classic basket-sneaking risk. The commercial value or charitable purpose does not change the consent problem. A donation should begin at zero, identify the recipient or purpose where relevant, show the amount before payment and require an affirmative selection. Insurance or protection should identify the covered event, price, duration and cancellation terms before checkout. A recurring subscription must not be hidden inside a one-time purchase or described only in small print.
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What did the CCPA’s 2026 enforcement action show?
On 3 June 2026, the CCPA announced a ₹5 lakh penalty against PhysicsWallah and a ₹1 lakh penalty against McAfee. The cases illustrate how several patterns can operate together rather than as isolated defects.
| Business | Conduct described by CCPA | Patterns or concern | Announced penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| PhysicsWallah | A ₹5 donation was preselected; messaging discouraged removal; courses advertised as free required mobile-number and email sharing without clearly disclosing those conditions. | Basket sneaking, emotional pressure and misleading “free” representation; data collection not shown as necessary for the content. | ₹5 lakh |
| McAfee | Renewal presented “Renew Now” against “Accept Risk,” making the alternatives unequal and difficult to interpret. | Confirm shaming, interface interference, trick question and forced action. | ₹1 lakh |
The CCPA’s accompanying statement is direct: “Consumer consent cannot be assumed through pre-selected options and must always be obtained through a clear and affirmative action.” The enforcement message is broader than the individual amounts: a low-value add-on, a supposedly free offer or a renewal screen can still create exposure when the overall design undermines informed choice.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How should an online store review its checkout and data flows?
1. Map every customer decision
Capture screenshots or recordings of the journey from advertisement to cancellation. Mark every point at which a customer accepts a price, recurring commitment, data purpose, seller term or optional extra. Review logged-out, mobile and accessibility versions separately; a neutral desktop page does not cure a coercive mobile layout.
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2. Reconcile price and product representations
Display the total payable amount, mandatory fees, taxes where applicable, delivery charges and recurring terms before payment. Test whether a discount, “free” claim or countdown remains accurate after required data or add-ons are included. Remove unsupported scarcity timers and claims that disappear at the final step.
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3. Test consent independently of purchase
Ask whether the customer can buy, download or contact support without accepting unrelated advertising or partner-sharing purposes. Mark each field as necessary, optional or prohibited. If the business cannot explain why a field is needed for the stated service, redesign the flow or remove the requirement.
4. Compare accept and decline paths
Count clicks, screens, scrolling and wording for both choices. “Accept all” should not be one bright button while “decline” is hidden in a text link or a second settings screen. Cancellation and withdrawal should be discoverable from the account area and confirmation emails.
5. Assign seller and platform accountability
For a marketplace, identify which party controls the product description, price, seller disclosure, payment page, delivery promise and complaint response. The E-Commerce Rules’ marketplace and inventory responsibilities mean that a platform should not assume every interface problem belongs to an individual seller.
6. Preserve evidence and remediate
Keep dated versions of notices, consent logs, checkout screens, seller disclosures, complaint records and remediation decisions. When a defect is found, disable the pattern first, refund or reverse affected optional charges where appropriate, notify relevant teams and document the correction. Evidence of a functioning review and grievance process is more useful than a generic policy stored without operational records.
What rights and remedies does a shopper have?
A shopper can refuse optional data uses, decline an add-on, question a hidden or unexpected charge, and use the seller or platform’s grievance channel. Save the order confirmation, cart total, screenshots, emails and the wording of any consent screen. State the requested remedy clearly: removal of an optional service, refund of an unselected charge, correction of a misleading representation or deletion or cessation of an unnecessary marketing use where applicable.
If the business does not resolve the complaint, the consumer-protection framework provides escalation routes through the mechanisms notified by the relevant authorities. The exact forum and procedure can depend on the transaction and current rules, so use the official consumer-grievance information in force at the time. A complaint is stronger when it identifies the precise screen, date, amount and choice that was unavailable or misleading.
How do the main compliance choices compare?
| Design choice | Legal basis and consent | Transparency | Neutrality and necessity | Exposure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unchecked optional add-on with separate price | Affirmative selection; consent can be declined and, where applicable, revoked. | Price, purpose and duration shown before payment. | Customer can complete the core purchase without it. | Lower risk when disclosures and records are accurate. |
| Preselected add-on or pre-ticked permission | Relies on silence or inattention rather than affirmative action. | Choice may be technically visible but practically obscured. | Often unnecessary to the core transaction. | High dark-pattern and consent risk; specifically criticised by the CCPA in 2026. |
| Mandatory data field for an advertised “free” service | Must be justified by the service purpose, not quietly exchanged for access. | Requirement must be disclosed before the customer relies on the “free” claim. | Collect only what is necessary and proportionate. | Misleading-representation and data-collection risk, as illustrated by the PhysicsWallah action. |
| Equal “accept” and “decline” controls | Supports clear, affirmative choice. | Consequences are stated in plain language. | Declining does not trigger shame or an unrelated blockage. | Best baseline for reducing interface-interference concerns. |
What standard applies to online consumer reviews?
The Bureau of Indian Standards notified “Online Consumer Reviews — Principles and Requirements for their Collection, Moderation and Publication” on 23 November 2022. The standard is voluntary and applies to online platforms publishing consumer reviews. Its principles are integrity, accuracy, privacy, security, transparency, accessibility and responsiveness. A review system should therefore explain how reviews are collected and moderated, protect reviewer information, avoid fabricated or selectively presented feedback, and provide a way to respond to complaints about review handling.
Quick Recap
What should businesses do now?
- Verify which DPDP Act 2023 and Rules 2025 provisions have commenced, including transitional requirements and exemptions, from operative notifications.
- Inventory every optional charge, recurring commitment, marketing permission and data field in the customer journey.
- Remove preselected donations, insurance, warranties, tips and subscriptions unless the customer actively chooses them.
- Rewrite “free,” urgency, risk and scarcity claims so the headline matches the final price and conditions.
- Give accept and decline controls comparable prominence and make withdrawal or cancellation straightforward.
- Provide seller disclosures and a functioning grievance route for both marketplace and inventory operations.
- Run recurring interface reviews, retain dated evidence and train product, marketing, legal, seller-support and customer-service teams.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
