Busting dark patterns, mediation on agenda of consumer affairs ministry

DoCA will create a platform to put consumers in touch with officials to help resolve their grievances before they reach litigation stage

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution will remain focused on initiatives such as busting dark patterns in the online space and resolving complaints through mediation to alleviate consumer grievances as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to lead a new coalition government.

As part of its initial 100-day plan, the new government plans to launch a mobile application that will help consumers identify any dark patterns that the online platforms use, a top official told Business Standard. Dark patterns are defined as practices or deceptive design patterns using UI/UX (user interface/user experience) interactions on any platform. They are designed to mislead or trick users into doing something they originally did not intend or want to do. The dark patterns contribute to unfair trade practices and can be classified as a violation of consumer rights.

In October last year, the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) in collaboration with IIT-BHU launched the Dark Patterns Buster Hackathon 2023 to help develop a design and prototype innovative apps or software-based solutions, that can identify if an online portal uses one or more dark patterns.

“The models that were created during the hackathon will be tested first. We will be hosting them publicly, where users and companies can try using them before they are finalised,” another top official said.

Among the other agendas, the DoCA will also work towards creating a platform, which will put consumers in touch with officials to help resolve their grievances before they reach the litigation stage.

“We are seriously looking at resolving consumer complaints through mediation. This will help reduce the resolution time of complaints, while also reducing the burden on consumer commissions. It will also be a more affordable option for companies,” Nidhi Khare, secretary in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs Food & Public Distribution told Business Standard two weeks ago.

"We are planning to upgrade and strengthen the consumer helpline setup and empanel people with knowledge of law or technology to help resolve the matters. This will be several notches up than the current call agent system,” she had added.

To help satisfactorily resolve the grievances, the DoCA is also looking to tap into National Law Universities and Indian Institutes of Management offering law courses to identify people who could be empanelled for the helpline, said one of the top officials quoted above.