The Hidden Tax: How Amazon, Flipkart and Quick Commerce Are Looting You with Dark Patterns

The Digital Deception: When Shopping Becomes a Scam

Picture this: You're scrolling through Amazon at midnight looking for a phone charger. The price shows ₹99. Perfect! You add it to cart, maybe add a couple more items. Everything looks good. Then you reach checkout and suddenly the ₹99 charger is now part of a ₹250 bill with convenience fees, platform charges, handling fees, and about six other charges that appeared out of nowhere like unwanted relatives at a wedding.

Welcome to the world of dark patterns, where India's biggest e-commerce platforms have turned online shopping into a masterclass in consumer deception. This isn't just bad design or accidental confusion. This is systematic, calculated manipulation designed to extract maximum money from unsuspecting customers while making them think they're getting a great deal.

And it's not just Amazon or Flipkart anymore. Quick commerce apps like Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, and pharmacy platforms like Apollo and Tata 1mg have taken these deceptive practices to whole new levels, charging you premium prices for the convenience of not stepping out of your house. The Indian consumer has become a cash cow to be milked through increasingly sophisticated digital manipulation.

What Exactly Are Dark Patterns? The Government Finally Notices

After years of consumers complaining into the void, the Indian government has finally acknowledged what millions of shoppers already knew: online platforms are scamming people. The Department of Consumer Affairs, through their official Jago Grahak Jago initiative, has begun calling out these manipulative practices for what they are.

Dark patterns are deceptive interface designs used in websites or apps to trick or manipulate users into making decisions they would not have made otherwise. The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has officially defined these as "any practices or deceptive design patterns using UI/UX interactions on any platform designed to mislead or trick users to do something they originally did not intend or want to do."

The government has identified several types of dark patterns that have become endemic across Indian e-commerce. False Urgency creates fake time pressure with messages like "Only 1 left in stock!" or "5 people viewing this right now!" Basket Sneaking adds extra products or services at checkout without your consent. Confirm Shaming guilt trips you into agreeing with manipulative language like "No, I don't want to save money" or "Continue without protection."

Drip Pricing reveals the actual cost only at the final checkout stage, after you've already invested time selecting items. Interface Interference deliberately hides important information or makes cancellation buttons nearly impossible to find. Bait and Switch promotes one offer during browsing, then switches to another at checkout.

• False Urgency: Fake countdown timers and low stock alerts creating artificial scarcity
• Drip Pricing: Hidden charges appearing only at final checkout stage
• Basket Sneaking: Unauthorized additions to your cart, especially warranty and insurance
• Confirm Shaming: Guilt-inducing language manipulating your choices
• Forced Action: Making you sign up or share data to complete basic transactions
• Interface Interference: Deliberately hiding cancel buttons or important information
• Subscription Traps: Making it easy to subscribe but impossible to unsubscribe

Government Crackdown: Finally, Some Action!

In May 2025, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs sent over 400 notices to e-commerce platforms and retailers, demanding they remove dark patterns. Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi announced that over 50 platforms have agreed "in principle" to comply with government guidelines. The minister emphasized that "business should be based on trust" and stressed the government's commitment to "transparency and empowering every consumer to make informed choices."

The CCPA issued comprehensive Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns in 2023, which came into effect on November 30, 2023. These guidelines specifically prohibit the manipulative practices that have become standard operating procedure for most e-commerce platforms. On June 5, 2025, the CCPA issued a fresh advisory demanding proactive compliance by digital platforms to identify and eliminate dark patterns within three months.

Under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, violations related to dark patterns can result in penalties of up to ₹20 lakh and six months imprisonment. The government has established a Joint Working Group including government agencies, law schools, and consumer bodies to review implementation and ensure compliance.

On July 22, 2025, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs urged all e-commerce websites to perform self-audits and eliminate dark patterns. This strategy takes root in the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, which provides the regulatory authority with legal instruments to compel moral behavior since the act declares such tricks as unfair trade practices.

The Jago Grahak Jago App: Your Weapon Against Digital Fraud

The government has launched three digital tools in partnership with IIT BHU to combat dark patterns. The Jagriti App allows users to report dark patterns and flag suspicious e-commerce practices directly to authorities. The Jagriti Dashboard provides real-time monitoring that scans e-commerce URLs for dark patterns and flags suspicious sites. The Jago Grahak Jago safety rating system enables consumers to check platform ratings before shopping.

If you encounter suspected dark patterns, you can report them through the Department of Consumer Affairs' Jagriti App. Enter the URL of any site or e-commerce platform you believe is using deceptive design tactics banned by the Guidelines. Your submission is filed as a formal complaint with the CCPA, which can then investigate and take action.

The National Consumer Helpline has seen a significant surge in complaints related to dark patterns, indicating growing awareness among consumers. This demonstrates that people are finally realizing they're being systematically manipulated and are willing to fight back.

Amazon and Flipkart: The Original Sinners

Let's talk about the elephants in the room: Amazon and Flipkart. These two giants dominate India's e-commerce market, which was worth between $57 billion and $60 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $160 billion by 2028. Together, they've poured over $25 billion into building e-commerce infrastructure in India. And how have they repaid Indian consumers? With systematic manipulation and deception.

Amazon entered India in 2013 with Jeff Bezos personally commanding his team to "behave like cowboys and charge ahead without concern for burning cash." Flipkart, founded in 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, started as India's homegrown success story before being acquired by Walmart for $16 billion in 2018. Both companies promised to revolutionize shopping in India. What they actually revolutionized was the art of consumer manipulation.

The Competition Commission of India launched an investigation in 2020 into both companies for allegedly promoting certain sellers with which they had business arrangements and giving priority to certain listings. A 1,027-page report on Amazon and a separate 1,696-page report on Flipkart, both dated August 9, 2024, found that "each of the anti-competitive practices alleged were investigated and found to be true."

The CCI investigators said the two companies created an ecosystem where preferred sellers appeared higher in search results, elbowing out other sellers. "Ordinary sellers remained as mere database entries," the reports concluded. These aren't just regulatory violations. These are deliberate business strategies designed to crush competition and exploit consumers.

The Dirty Dozen: Specific Dark Pattern Examples

A comprehensive study by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) and Parallel HQ found that 79% of Indian apps trick users into giving away their personal data. Even more alarming, the study analyzed 53 popular Indian apps and discovered that 52 out of 53 apps employed at least one dark pattern. That's a 98% prevalence rate of deceptive practices.

According to a LocalCircles study covering over 230,000 consumers across 392 districts, Forced Action appeared on 54% of platforms, requiring users to complete unrelated tasks to proceed. Drip Pricing was found on 48% of platforms, with hidden charges revealed only at final checkout. Privacy Deception was the most common type across travel, food delivery, and e-commerce apps.

BookMyShow was found automatically adding ₹1 per ticket toward its BookASmile charity initiative without consumer consent through pre-ticked checkboxes. While ₹1 might seem minor, aggregated across thousands of transactions monthly, this represents clear consumer harm. The CCPA issued a notice on February 11, 2025, and BookMyShow subsequently modified its UI to give users clear opt-in choice for donations.

IndiGo Airlines received a CCPA notice dated June 19, 2024, for using confirm shaming tactics. Passengers opting out of add-ons were shown the message "No, I will take risk," manipulative phrasing that coerces users by implying irresponsibility or danger. This is textbook psychological manipulation designed to guilt trip customers into unnecessary purchases.

The Controversies: Amazon and Flipkart's Rap Sheet

The history of Amazon and Flipkart in India reads like a crime thriller. In November 2024, India's financial crime agency, the Enforcement Directorate, raided offices of sellers operating on Amazon and Flipkart platforms in an investigation into alleged violations of foreign investment rules. Raids were conducted at 19 locations in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.

The investigation focused on how e-commerce platforms indirectly influence the sale price of goods, violating Indian laws, and fail to provide a level playing field for all sellers. The Enforcement Directorate has been investigating both companies for years for allegedly bypassing foreign investment laws that strictly regulate multi-brand retail.

A Reuters investigation in 2021, based on internal Amazon documents, showed the company exerted significant control over the inventory of some of the biggest sellers, even though Indian laws prohibit foreign players from holding inventory of products. The CCI told an Indian court the Reuters special report corroborated evidence it had against Amazon.

In March 2025, India's Bureau of Indian Standards raided Delhi warehouses of both Amazon and Flipkart, seizing items that did not meet quality control standards. Similar searches were conducted in Tamil Nadu, revealing that both companies stored, sold, and exhibited items without required standards labels.

India's Commerce Minister publicly slammed Amazon in August 2024, saying its investments in India have often been used to cover business losses, adding that such losses "smell of predatory pricing." The minister wasn't being subtle. He was basically accusing Amazon of deliberately operating at losses to drive Indian competitors out of business.

Quick Commerce: Convenience at What Cost?

If you thought traditional e-commerce was bad, wait until we discuss the quick commerce nightmare. Apps like Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, and BigBasket's BB Now promise 10-minute delivery and charge you like they're delivering organs for transplant rather than a packet of chips.

Quick commerce firms are on track to do an annual GMV of more than $6 billion, according to industry estimates. They're eating into Amazon and Flipkart's market share by offering speed, but at what cost to consumers? The pricing on these platforms makes traditional retail look like charity.

A ₹20 packet of biscuits from your neighborhood store becomes ₹35 on Blinkit. Add delivery fees, platform fees, surge charges during rain or high demand, and suddenly you're paying ₹55 for ₹20 worth of biscuits. But hey, you got them in 10 minutes, so clearly that's worth nearly tripling the price, right?

Zomato and Swiggy have perfected the art of hidden charges. The food price looks reasonable until you reach checkout and discover delivery fees, platform fees, GST, packaging charges, and "distance fees" that weren't mentioned anywhere during browsing. A ₹200 meal easily becomes ₹350 after all charges are added.

These platforms employ every dark pattern in the book. Fake urgency with "Raining nearby! Order now before surge pricing kicks in." Drip pricing where the actual cost appears only at checkout. Forced tipping with pre-selected tip amounts and guilt-inducing language if you try to remove them.

Pharmacy Apps: Playing with Your Health

The pharmacy app situation is particularly egregious because they're literally profiting from people's health needs. Apollo Pharmacy and Tata 1mg have turned medicine delivery into a premium service that makes you question whether your illness is worth the convenience charges.

A medicine that costs ₹150 at your local pharmacy is listed at ₹180 on these apps. Then come the delivery charges, platform fees, and handling fees. Suddenly, your ₹150 medicine costs ₹250, and you're paying a 67% markup for the privilege of not walking to a pharmacy.

These platforms also engage in subscription trapping. They offer "free delivery" if you subscribe to their premium plans, but make canceling these subscriptions incredibly difficult. The cancel button is hidden behind multiple menus, and you're required to provide reasons and face guilt-inducing messages about "losing your benefits."

In February 2016, Health Minister J. P. Nadda announced that the Maharashtra FDA had taken action against Flipkart and others for selling drugs without valid licenses. This wasn't just about dark patterns; this was about companies illegally selling medicines without proper authorization, putting public health at risk.

The Psychology of the Crowd: Why We Keep Getting Scammed

Here's the uncomfortable truth: these platforms succeed because we let them. The rise of quick commerce represents a fascinating case study in collective consumer madness. We've become so obsessed with convenience that we're willing to pay absurd premiums for services we don't actually need.

The crowd mentality around quick commerce is genuinely concerning. People brag about getting groceries delivered in 10 minutes like it's some kind of achievement. "I ordered milk and it arrived before I finished my coffee!" Congratulations, you paid triple the price for milk that you could have bought by walking 5 minutes to a local store.

Social media has amplified this madness. Influencers promote quick commerce as a lifestyle choice, making videos about their "quick commerce hauls" and acting like paying ₹50 for a ₹20 product delivered in 10 minutes is somehow aspirational. It's manufactured urgency and artificial status seeking at its finest.

The platforms have successfully convinced an entire generation that convenience is worth any price. Rain outside? Order on Blinkit instead of using an umbrella. Ran out of milk? Don't walk to the store, pay ₹60 delivery charges for ₹25 worth of milk. Feeling lazy? That's not a problem, it's a market opportunity for quick commerce.

What's particularly frustrating is watching people defend these practices. "But it's so convenient!" they cry, as if convenience justifies paying 200% markups. "I don't have time to go to stores!" they claim, while spending hours scrolling through social media. The mental gymnastics required to justify this behavior are Olympic-level.

What Consumers Are Actually Thinking (Spoiler: They're Pissed)

Despite the crowd mentality around quick commerce, consumers are increasingly aware they're being manipulated. The surge in complaints to the National Consumer Helpline regarding dark patterns indicates growing frustration with deceptive practices.

Online forums and social media are filled with complaints about hidden charges, fake discounts, and manipulative interface designs. Customers report feeling betrayed when they discover the ₹99 product they wanted costs ₹250 after all charges. They're angry about fake urgency notifications that push them into hasty purchase decisions.

The trust deficit is real. Consumers approach online shopping with skepticism, knowing they'll be manipulated at every step. They've learned to never trust the first price shown, to carefully review checkout totals, and to screenshot everything in case of disputes.

Many consumers express frustration at feeling powerless against large corporations. They know they're being scammed but feel they have no choice because these platforms have become essential for modern life. It's digital feudalism where consumers are subjects rather than customers.

Government Steps: Are They Enough?

The government's recent actions against dark patterns represent significant progress, but questions remain about enforcement effectiveness. Issuing guidelines is one thing; ensuring compliance is entirely another.

The three-month deadline for platforms to conduct self-audits sounds good on paper, but self-regulation has a poor track record in the tech industry. Companies are essentially being asked to police themselves, which is like asking a thief to guard a jewelry store.

The penalties of up to ₹20 lakh and six months imprisonment might sound substantial, but for companies worth billions of dollars, these are rounding errors. Amazon's annual revenue in India runs into billions. A ₹20 lakh fine is pocket change they'll happily pay while continuing manipulative practices.

The Joint Working Group comprising government agencies, law schools, and consumer bodies is a positive development, but bureaucratic committees have a history of producing reports rather than results. The real test will be whether this group has teeth to actually punish violations or just serves as another paper tiger.

The Jagriti App and Dashboard are excellent tools, but their effectiveness depends on consumer awareness and willingness to report violations. How many people will actually take time to report every instance of manipulation they encounter?

How to Protect Yourself: Practical Steps

While we wait for government enforcement to catch up with corporate greed, consumers need to protect themselves. Here are practical steps to avoid falling victim to dark patterns and marketplace manipulation:

• Never trust the first price shown: Always assume there will be additional charges at checkout
• Screenshot everything: Capture advertised prices, product descriptions, and promises for evidence
• Read checkout carefully: Review every line item before confirming purchases
• Disable one-click purchasing: Make it harder for impulse manipulation to work
• Use the Jagriti App: Report every suspicious practice you encounter
• Compare prices offline: Often local stores are cheaper even without considering delivery fees
• Ignore urgency tactics: "Only 1 left!" is usually a lie designed to pressure you
• Unsubscribe from marketing emails: Reduce exposure to manipulative promotions
• Use price tracking tools: Monitor if discounts are genuine or fake
• Support local retailers: Break the monopoly by shopping at physical stores when possible
• Read cancellation policies: Before subscribing to anything, ensure you can actually cancel
• Clear cookies regularly: Prevent dynamic pricing based on your browsing history

Most importantly, resist the convenience trap. Ask yourself: is 10-minute delivery really worth paying triple the price? Can you walk to a local store instead of ordering online? Do you actually need this product, or are you being manipulated by false urgency and artificial scarcity?

The Bigger Picture: Corporate Greed vs. Consumer Rights

This isn't just about hidden fees or manipulative interfaces. This is about a fundamental power imbalance between trillion-dollar corporations and individual consumers. These companies have teams of psychologists, UX designers, and data scientists working full-time to figure out how to extract maximum money from your wallet.

They A/B test every button color, every word choice, every interface element to determine which version makes you spend more money. They track your browsing behavior, purchase history, and even mouse movements to build psychological profiles for targeting. They employ dynamic pricing that shows different prices to different users based on perceived willingness to pay.

Against this weaponized corporate sophistication, individual consumers are essentially defenseless. You're not just competing against a website; you're competing against billions of dollars of research, technology, and manipulation tactics designed specifically to exploit your psychological vulnerabilities.

The question isn't whether these practices are legal. The question is whether they should be. Just because you can manipulate someone into paying more doesn't mean you should. Just because you can hide charges until the last moment doesn't make it ethical. Just because fake urgency gets people to buy faster doesn't justify the deception.

Conclusion: Time to Vote with Your Wallet

The government's crackdown on dark patterns is welcome, but ultimately, consumer behavior will determine whether these practices continue or stop. If people keep paying inflated prices for questionable convenience, companies will keep charging them.

We need to break the cycle of convenience addiction that quick commerce has created. Walking to a local store isn't a hardship; it's a basic life activity that humans have done for thousands of years. Waiting a day or two for delivery isn't suffering; it's normal. The idea that everything must arrive in 10 minutes is manufactured urgency designed to justify absurd prices.

Support local retailers when possible. They might not offer 10-minute delivery or slick apps, but they also won't manipulate you with hidden charges or dark patterns. They're part of your community, and keeping them in business creates a more resilient, less monopolistic marketplace.

Use the Jagriti App to report every instance of manipulation you encounter. Make noise on social media when companies use deceptive practices. Leave honest reviews warning other consumers. Corporate behavior changes when it starts affecting profits or reputation.

The battle against dark patterns isn't just about saving money on individual transactions. It's about maintaining consumer autonomy in an increasingly manipulative digital economy. It's about ensuring that shopping remains a transaction between equal parties rather than a psychological manipulation exercise.

Amazon, Flipkart, and quick commerce platforms have built empires on consumer manipulation. The government is finally taking notice, but real change requires consumers to demand better and punish bad behavior by taking their business elsewhere. The power ultimately lies with you, the customer. Use it wisely.