Scam: E-commerce companies are scamming customers in the name of discounts; beware of these tactics..
You've probably experienced this too: a product is advertised with a 70% discount on your screen, but the final bill tells a different story. As India embraces Black Friday-style sales and year-round "mega offers," regulators, cybersecurity firms, and consumer groups are all pointing to the same problem: a significant portion of these "discounts" are based on inflated MRPs, hidden fees at checkout, manipulative design, or, in some cases, entirely fake websites mimicking top brands. Let's explore the various ways customers are being misled and, in effect, defrauded.
This year alone, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) fined the baby products platform FirstCry ₹2 lakh for misleading drip pricing and ordered all e-commerce platforms to conduct self-audits for dark patterns. It also obtained self-declarations from 26 companies claiming to be "dark pattern-free," yet complaints continue to pour in.
Recently, cybersecurity firm CloudSEK flagged over 2,000 fake holiday-themed sale sites, many impersonating Amazon or other global brands. These were specifically designed to capitalize on Black Friday and festive season traffic.
Why does this matter?
For consumers, this deception isn't just an academic issue: it means paying more for "deals," getting stuck with inflated final bills, or being lured to scam sites that steal card details.
For honest sellers, fake discounts and dark patterns distort competition and train customers to distrust genuine pricing.
Why now?
The timing is no coincidence. India's festive sale window has become the peak season for aggressive discounting and scam operations. In June 2025, the CCPA ordered all e-commerce platforms to identify and remove dark patterns and complete a self-audit within three months. By November, 26 major players had reported in writing that their interfaces were now clean. However, user complaints suggest that the ecosystem is still far from being fixed.
How does the scam work?
MRP Game: Discounts on inflated prices
This is one of the oldest tricks, and also one of the hardest to spot in a hurry: fake discounts on inflated MRPs. Several consumer studies and market analyses have documented this pattern: the 'original' MRP of a product is inflated, a flashy '40–70% OFF' sticker is added, and the selling price quietly reverts to what it was before, or even higher than competitors.
Example:
Pre-sale: A gadget sells for ₹799.
Sale week: The MRP suddenly becomes ₹1,999, with a 'special price' of ₹899 and a large '55% OFF' displayed.
On paper, you're saving over ₹1,000. In reality, you're paying more than you did last month.
Consumer group CUTS International has highlighted inflated MRPs and fake discounts on e-commerce platforms as a serious concern, stating that such practices create a false sense of savings and mislead buyers.
Checkout Fraud: Drip Pricing and Hidden Fees
If the MRP game is about luring you in with large, imaginary discounts, drip pricing is about quietly increasing the final amount after you've committed to the purchase.
In September 2025, the CCPA fined FirstCry ₹2 lakh for precisely this: the platform displayed products as 'MRP inclusive of all taxes', but then added GST at checkout. The order referred to this as 'drip pricing,' a banned dark pattern, and stated that it violated Rule 7(1)(e) of the Consumer Protection (E-commerce) Rules, which mandates that the total price, including all charges and taxes, must be displayed upfront.
The same tactic is seen with 'convenience fees,' 'handling charges,' 'platform fees,' and packaging add-ons that only appear at the final step. Collectively, they turn a 'huge discount' into a negligible one or eliminate the discount.
Dark Patterns: How Interfaces Manipulate You
India is among the first countries to formally define and ban a basket of 'dark patterns,' which are manipulative interface designs that coerce users into making choices they wouldn't have made with clear, neutral information.
The Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023, issued under the Consumer Protection Act, list 13 such patterns, including:
False Urgency: Fake countdown timers or 'only 2 left' claims that don't reflect actual stock.
Basket Sneaking: Adding products or donations to your cart without explicit consent.
Bait and Switch: Promising one offer but delivering another.
Drip Pricing: Hiding mandatory fees until the final step.
Subscription Traps and Confirmshaming, which make you feel guilty or tricked into remaining subscribed.
Disclaimer: This content has been sourced and edited from Dainik Jagran. While we have made modifications for clarity and presentation, the original content belongs to its respective authors and website. We do not claim ownership of the content.
