 "online shopping, cosmetic brands, make-up brands, e-commerce, e-tailers, cosmetics")
The Advertising Standards Council of India (Asci) on Thursday issued guidelines for online deceptive design patterns in advertising, commonly known as "dark patterns", asking the companies not to mislead the customer via omission, exaggeration, implication, or ambiguity.
The guidelines are self-regulatory and will be effective September 1.
Dark patterns prompt the users to buy a particular product or a service even when they do not give their exclusive consent. There are several types of dark patterns prevailing on the internet today. Some of these are disguised ads, nagging, basket sneaking, forced action, bait and switch, and hidden costs.
Talking to Business Standard, Manisha Kapoor, chief executive officer (CEO) and secretary general, Asci, said that drip pricing, which increases the price of a product after customers commit to purchasing it, and disguised ads, where ads are designed to look like some other content, are the most widely used methods of dark patterns.
"The other two methods, bait and switch, and false urgency may not be that prevalent but are still widely used in digital ads," she said.
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Under the bait and switch method, when a customer adds a product to their basket, it is replaced by another similar product. In false urgency, a sense of fake shortage of stock is implied which prompts the customer to purchase a product.
Asci's guidelines show that incomplete price representations by the companies upfront would be considered misleading. Moreover, offering alternative products or services will also be considered deceptive.
In the case of false urgency, "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."
Also, the advertisers will be required to clearly differentiate between organic and paid ads on their platform.
"These guidelines will require businesses to create communication and systems that respect user autonomy, improve transparency, and encourage well-informed choices," Kapoor said.
She told Business Standard that Asci will also come up with guidelines on advertisements making green claims and on crowdsourcing platforms soon.
Earlier this week, Asci and the Department of Consumer Affairs held an interaction in Mumbai on dark patterns. Rohit Kumar Singh, secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, said that they will come up with guidelines for dark patterns within the next two months.
The Centre's guidelines, according to Kapoor, will cover both, advertisements as well as non-advertisements. Asci's guidelines are only for advertisers.
Singh on Thursday said, "Deceptive online patterns are also a violation of the Consumer Protection Act. We look forward to working with ASCI and the industry to support a robust self-regulatory mechanism for the larger framework on online deceptive patterns."
