Subscription Trap, Cashback Promises: Survey Finds Dark Patterns In Online Payment Platforms

A survey by LocalCircles said that a majority of customers felt that they were lured to online platforms with promises of cashback and subscriptions, but didn’t receive any benefits after signing up

Online payments have become the norm in today’s digital world. However, the practices around it are still lacking in terms of ethics and customer rights. A recent survey conducted by LocalCircles found that a majority of customers felt that they were lured to online platforms with the promise of cashback and subscriptions, but they didn’t receive any benefits after signing up. 

The survey by LocalCircles was conducted on a nationwide scale and compiled more than 45,000 responses from customers across India, reported Business Standard. The study showed the existence of ‘dark patterns’ and their usage by online platforms to gain customers. 

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) defines the manipulative and sly practices used by platforms as dark patterns. Dark patterns are essentially unfair trade practices or advertisements that result in violation of consumer rights. These have officially been prohibited by the government since December 2023.

The government identifies 13 types of dark patterns, such as false urgency, basket sneaking, confirm shaming, subscription trap, interface interference, forced action, drip pricing, bait and switch, disguised advertisement, trick questions, SaaS billing, nagging, and rogue malwares. 

The survey found that about 62 per cent of respondents experienced the bait and switch approach, wherein, they were brought in with the lure of a cashback scheme for making more transactions or adding funds to their online wallets. However, once they fulfilled the condition, they never received any cashback. 

Nearly 67 per cent of online customers surveyed said that they experienced subscription traps. Under these, once they added or linked their bank account for UPI payments, the online portals didn’t let them remove or delink their accounts easily. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has notably put safeguards in place to protect the consumers.

More than 52 per cent of survey respondents witnessed facing hidden fees associated with transactions. They stated that the fees were not disclosed beforehand, but deducted later.