Study finds widespread 'dark patterns' in India's ride-hailing apps

Forced cancellations, hidden fees and manipulative prompts plague users as survey shows eight in ten riders report deceptive design practices

Dark patterns or deceptive business practices are pervasive in Indian ride-hailing apps with forced cancellations, hidden fees, nagging and manipulative interfaces being particularly rampant, finds a study by LocalCircles, a leading community social media platform.

 

“Over 8 in 10 app taxi users surveyed in India report presence of dark patterns like bait and switch, forced action, nagging and interface interference on taxi aggregator platforms,” said the survey.

 

App-based taxis have seen significant growth in India, transforming urban mobility with convenience and real-time services.

 

However, consumers often face persistent issues like surge pricing, frequent ride cancellations by drivers, long waiting times, and concerns over passenger safety.

 

While the government has introduced regulations to address these and other dark patterns like hidden fees, and manipulative interfaces, user dissatisfaction remains high, with ongoing challenges in driver’s conduct and overall service quality.

 

Acting on an increasing number of complaints about various deceptive tactics used by app-based taxi services, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) earlier this year issued notices to top ride-hailing platforms for employing dark patterns.

 

The LocalCircles survey received 94,000 responses from app taxi users located in over 282 districts of the country. 61 per cent respondents were men while 39 per cent respondents were women.

 

The new study proves that dark patterns are very widely being used by app-based taxi platforms in India. 59 per cent of app-based taxi users surveyed say that they have experienced drip pricing or hidden charges (other than taxes) levied. These were not disclosed upfront but added when their ride transaction concluded.

 

90 per cent of app-based taxi users surveyed say that they have experienced forced action where they were made to cancel a ride and pay a penalty. However, it was the platform or its driver that became unwilling to provide the service that they signed up for.

 

In June, days after Union Minister Pralhad Joshi asked CCPA to investigate why ride-hailing apps were nudging users for tips before the ride even began, the apps quietly introduced “voluntary tip”.

 

Now, when users are booking a ride, the advance tip option comes with a little label that spells out “voluntary”. While the apps assure that “Riders can skip the tip, and the app won’t hold their ride” going by the rising complaints on social media, drivers of the app-based taxi services cancel rides at the last moment for no specified reason.

 

LocalCircles study found that 78 per cent of app-based taxi users surveyed have experienced a nagging dark pattern by platforms.

 

Here repeated pop-ups or prompts keep appearing asking users to add advanced tips, subscribe to a plan, enable notifications. This happens even after they decline to do so with no option of disabling them permanently.

 

Many app-based taxi platforms strive to attract riders by showing a short time for the nearest taxi after they share their destination but then the time increases upon booking confirmation. This is a widely used dark pattern as 86 per cent of app-based taxi users surveyed say that they have experienced bait and switch approach by platforms.

 

According to the survey, 84 per cent of app-based taxi users surveyed say that they have experienced interface interference by platforms. Here important options such as cancelling a ride, remove add-ons, or opt-out of subscriptions are hidden or displayed in very small fonts, or designed in a way that makes them difficult to notice.