Flipkart, Swiggy, Zomato, among 26 E-Commerce platforms, to declare themselves free of ‘dark patterns’

As India’s online shopping market grows at an unprecedented pace, concerns about deceptive digital design have also increased. In order to protect online consumers, major platforms Flipkart, Myntra, Swiggy, Zomato, Zepto, Meesho, BigBasket, MakeMyTrip and Ajio are among the 26 e-commerce companies that have now declared themselves free of “dark patterns” after completing government-mandated self-audits.

This includes patterns such as hidden charges, fake urgency messages, trick wording, forced actions or complicated cancellation processes, etc.

The declarations come under the 2023 guidelines introduced to curb manipulative user interfaces that mislead or pressure consumers into unintended actions.

According to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, each of these companies has submitted a sel