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Dark pattern self-audit checklist
The thirteen patterns specified in the 2023 Guidelines and the duties added in 2026, each with the question to ask and its source. Work through it before you draft your statement.
Check across steps and time, not one screen. Most of these patterns only show when you reload, open a fresh private window, come back later, or follow a journey to its last step. Keep a dated screenshot of every step you check.
Part A
Does this apply to you?
The Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 apply to every e-commerce entity: anyone who owns, operates or manages a digital platform for selling goods or services to consumers. That includes a single brand selling only from its own website.
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Do you sell goods or services to consumers in India through a website or app? | If yes, you are an e-commerce entity and Rule 4, including the self-audit in Rule 4(15), applies to you. |
| Do you sell your own inventory, or run a marketplace for other sellers — or both? | Inventory entities pick up Rule 7 duties; marketplace entities pick up Rule 5 duties. |
| Do you sell on someone else's marketplace? | Sellers on a marketplace have their own duties under Rule 6. |
| Do you sell imported goods? | Importer details and the full country of origin must be shown (Rule 4(6)). |
| Do you have an app as well as a website? | Both are part of your platform. Examine both, or say plainly which one you did not. |
General information, not legal advice. Whether a particular rule binds your entity is a question for your counsel.
Part B
The thirteen specified dark patterns
From Annexure 1 of the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023, which Rule 4(15) makes binding. The list includes rogue malware. It does not include “privacy zuckering”, a term from other taxonomies: if a checklist you are using lists it in place of rogue malware, one specified pattern goes unchecked.
| # | Pattern | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | False urgency | Do timers, stock counts or “people viewing” messages state anything untrue? Does a timer restart on reload or in a new session? Does an offer continue after its stated deadline? |
| 2 | Basket sneaking | Is any product, service, insurance, donation or fee added to the cart without the customer choosing it? |
| 3 | Confirm shaming | Does any option to decline or opt out use wording meant to make the customer feel guilt, shame or fear? |
| 4 | Forced action | Must the customer sign up, install an app, share unrelated information or take another unrelated step to buy, or to see prices? |
| 5 | Subscription trap | Is cancelling harder than subscribing — more steps, a different channel, or hard to find? Is auto-renewal disclosed clearly? Is a payment method demanded for a “free” trial without saying so up front? |
| 6 | Interface interference | Is any choice hidden, greyed out, made smaller or made harder to see in order to steer the customer? |
| 7 | Bait and switch | Does what is advertised — price, product, availability — differ from what is offered when the customer acts on it? |
| 8 | Drip pricing | Do fees or charges first appear at a later step? Compare the first price shown with the final amount payable, item by item. |
| 9 | Disguised advertisement | Is any advertisement presented to look like content, a search result, a review or a recommendation? |
| 10 | Nagging | Does a prompt — app install, notifications, an upsell — keep coming back after the customer has dismissed it? |
| 11 | Trick question | Do consent or choice prompts use double negatives or confusing wording that steers the answer? |
| 12 | SaaS billing | Are recurring charges, renewals and charges to stored payment methods disclosed clearly and agreed to by an affirmative action? |
| 13 | Rogue malware | Does anything imitate a system warning, security alert, virus notice or download button to make the customer act? It usually arrives through ad networks or third-party scripts. |
Part C
Other duties under the Rules
Most of these were added or rewritten by the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) (Amendment) Rules, 2026 (G.S.R. 789(E), 9 September 2026) and apply from 1 January 2027. Rule 4(9) is from the original 2020 Rules. Unlike most dark patterns, nearly all of them can be checked directly.
| Rule | Duty | Applies to | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4(2) | Entity and contact details | All e-commerce entities | Legal name, principal address of headquarters and all branches, website details, and email, landline and mobile numbers for both customer care and the grievance officer — displayed clearly and accessibly. |
| 4(5) | Grievance handling | All e-commerce entities | Complaints acknowledged within 48 hours, the complainant given a copy of the complaint as recorded, and redressal within one month. Check your published policy says so, and that it happens. |
| 4(6) | Imported goods | Entities offering imported goods | The importer's name and details, and the full name of the country of origin — “China”, not “CN”. |
| 4(7) | National Consumer Helpline | All e-commerce entities | Your entity is a partner in the National Consumer Helpline's convergence process. |
| 4(9) | Consent to purchase | All e-commerce entities | Consent is recorded only by an explicit, affirmative action. No pre-ticked boxes. |
| 4(11)(c) | Search results | All e-commerce entities | Search results and indexes are not manipulated to mislead users about what matches their query. |
| 4(12) | Sponsored listings | All e-commerce entities | Sponsored products and services are distinctly identified with a clear, prominent disclosure — legible, not hidden or faint. |
| 4(13) | Prior price | All e-commerce entities, when a reduction is announced | Where a price reduction is announced, the prior price is shown with the reduced price. The prior price is the lowest price in the 30 days before the announcement — so you need a price history to check it. |
| 4(14) | Invoices | All e-commerce entities | The seller's name appears in the invoice in the same font size as the entity's name. |
| 5(3)(f) | Ranking parameters | Marketplace entities | The main parameters that determine ranking, in descending order of significance, explained in plain, intelligible language that is publicly available. |
| 5(6) | Use of collected information | Marketplace entities | Information collected is not used to sell goods bearing a brand common with the marketplace, or to promote a seller as associated with it, without express, affirmative consent. |
| 5(7) | Bundled fees | Marketplace entities | No bundled fees for services unrelated to the platform. Loyalty and membership programmes are excluded. |
| 6(5)(j) | Seller identification | Sellers on a marketplace | GSTIN or MSME registration number displayed. |
| 7(1)(a) | Pre-purchase information | Inventory entities | Accurate information on return, refund, exchange, best-before date, warranty, delivery, return shipping cost, payment modes and grievance redressal. |
Next
When you have an outcome for every item, the statement generator turns your answers into a statement in the open format — with your scope and exclusions stated as plainly as your results.