The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) publishes new comprehensive guidelines for ‘Online Deceptive Design Patterns in Advertising’. This is in order to empower businesses, designers and stakeholders to create user-centric experiences while promoting transparency, trust and ethical standards in the digital landscape.
The guidelines will serve as a framework for businesses to design and implement user navigation and interface that put informed decision-making and express consent a priority.
As consumers turn to digital platforms, marketing strategies employed on these platforms are becoming more sophisticated and personalised. Some of these practices could be misleading or even predatory.
These deceptive practices impair the consumer’s choice to make an informed decision and are more commonly referred to as dark patterns. These practices are designed to steer consumers towards making choices that could compromise their interest in favour of the advertiser’s interest.
These concerns were discussed during the recently held stakeholder consultation in Mumbai on the subject, jointly organised by the Department of Consumer Affairs and ASCI.
Following are the areas that the new guidelines address:
Drip pricing: This is a practice in which elements of the costs are not revealed up front, and the total price is only revealed at the very end of the buying process or after confirmation of purchase. The guidelines require quoted prices in advertisements and e-commerce sites to include non-optional taxes, duties, fees and charges that apply to all buyers. Incomplete price representations upfront would be considered misleading.
Bait and Switch: When an ad or an element in an ad directly or indirectly implies one outcome of the consumer’s action but instead serves up another, it is misleading.
False urgency: Stating or implying that quantities of a product or service are more limited than they are is considered misleading. In case of a complaint, the advertiser would be required to demonstrate that the stock position at the time of the appearance of the limited quantity message was of a level where the urgency communicated could not be considered misleading.
Disguised ads: An advertisement that is of a similar format as editorial or organic content must clearly disclose that it is an ad. Examples could be influencer posts, paid reviews, and ads placed in a manner to appear like editorial content.
Manisha Kapoor, chief executive officer and secretary general, ASCI, said, “With the government and the industry echoing their belief in self-regulation, we believe that the guidelines we have issued today will play a crucial role in fostering a more ethical and trustworthy advertising ecosystem and protecting consumer trust. These guidelines will require businesses to create communication and systems that respect user autonomy, improve transparency, and encourage well-informed choices.”
Rohit Kumar Singh, secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, said, “We welcome the new ASCI guidelines related to advertising. Deceptive online patterns are also a violation of the Consumer Protection Act. We look forward to working with ASCI and the industry to support a robust self-regulatory mechanism for the larger framework on online deceptive patterns”.
These guidelines will be applicable from September 1 to give online platforms a window to make the necessary changes to their systems and interface designs.