India’s consumer affairs ministry has announced stricter regulations for online shopping platforms, aiming to enhance transparency and consumer rights ahead of the bustling festive season, including measures to combat dark patterns and improve detailed disclosures.
India’s consumer affairs ministry has tightened rules for online shopping platforms in a move aimed at curbing dark patterns and improving disclosure ahead of the festive sales rush. The updated framework, called the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) (Amendment) Rules, 2026, will replace the 2020 rules and is set to take effect from January 2027.
According to the ministry, the revised regime is intended to increase transparency while strengthening grievance handling, sponsored listing disclosures and seller information requirements. Officials said the changes are meant to address new consumer concerns in digital commerce without placing excessive burdens on businesses.
The new rules require ecommerce platforms to join the national consumer helpline’s convergence programme, provide complainants with copies of complaints recorded by grievance officers and stop manipulating search results in ways that could distort relevance or mislead users. Sponsored listings will need to be clearly marked, while discounts must show both the reduced price and the prior price, defined as the lowest price charged in the 30 days before the offer was announced.
Platforms will also have to carry out annual self-audits against the government’s dark-pattern guidelines. In addition, they must show key product details such as best-before dates, refund terms, warranty information, delivery conditions and payment details. The ministry said users’ data cannot be used without express consent, and bundled fees for unrelated services will be restricted, except where they relate to loyalty or membership schemes. Importer information and country of origin will also have to be disclosed for imported goods.
The timing is significant. Ecommerce and quick commerce companies are entering the festive season, when sales typically rise sharply and so do complaints about misleading tactics. Parliament was told earlier this year that more than 5.1 lakh complaints were logged against ecommerce and quick commerce platforms on the National Consumer Helpline in 2025, with Flipkart, Amazon and Meesho accounting for most of them. Inc42 reported last year that festive sales had again become a flashpoint, with shoppers complaining about cancelled orders, delayed refunds, pushed-back delivery dates and discounts that sometimes proved less attractive than regular prices elsewhere.
The government has been building pressure on the sector for several years. In 2023, the Central Consumer Protection Authority identified and banned 13 dark patterns, including confirm shaming, subscription traps, bait-and-switch tactics, false urgency, basket sneaking and disguised advertisements. It later told digital platforms to conduct mandatory self-audits to identify and remove such practices. Enforcement has continued as well: in June, the authority fined beverage brand Storia and edtech company PhysicsWallah over alleged misleading or manipulative practices on their platforms.
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