New Delhi: The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) on Thursday issued new comprehensive guidelines to combat deceptive ‘dark patterns’ in online advertising, days after the self-regulatory body and the central government held consultations with industry stakeholders in this regard.
According to a statement released on Thursday, ASCI said it will also form a larger task force along with the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) to fight these ‘dark patterns’ – persuading consumers to buy products or services. Unethical online advertising techniques adopted by companies for
The guidelines issued by ASCI, which will come into effect from September 1, are designed to broadly address four online advertising techniques, namely, drip pricing, bait and switch, false urgency and disguised ads.
These guidelines draw inspiration from comments received on the discussion paper released by ASCI in November 2022 ‘Dark Patterns – The New Threat to Consumer Protection’, which was kept open for two months and subsequently discussed with a multi-stakeholder task force, read the statement.
ASCI CEO and Secretary General Manisha Kapoor said these guidelines will “play a vital role in promoting a more ethical and trustworthy advertising ecosystem and protecting consumer trust”.
“These guidelines will require businesses to create communications and systems that respect user autonomy, improve transparency and encourage well-informed choices,” Kapoor said.
Officials of Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) and office bearers of ASCI Held A consultative meeting on 13 June to explore a self-regulatory framework to curb ‘dark patterns’ in Indian advertising.
Welcoming the new guidelines, DoCA Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh Deceptive Online Patterns Called “Infringing” Consumer Protection Act”.
“We look forward to working with ASCI and industry to support a stronger self-regulatory mechanism for the larger framework on online deceptive patterns,” he added.
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‘Dark patterns’ in online advertising
ASCI in its statement has defined ‘drip pricing’ as a ‘practice’ in which the elements of cost are not disclosed up front, and the total price is revealed only at the end of the procurement process or after confirmation of purchase .
This creates ambiguity around the final price as well as prevents easy cost comparison, the self-regulatory body said, adding incomplete price representation “would be considered misleading”.
In addition, ASCI said the guidelines would require companies to include all “non-optional taxes, duties, charges and fees that are applicable to all buyers” in their advertisements and prices quoted on e-commerce marketplaces.
The guidelines also state that companies should avoid bait-and-switch tactics, which ASCI has defined as an advertisement or an element in an advertisement that directly or indirectly implements one result, rather than serving another. does.
Creating a false sense of urgency, meanwhile, refers to the phenomenon when companies state or imply that the quantity of a product or service is more limited than it actually is. ASCI said, “In the case of a complaint, the advertiser would need to demonstrate that the stock position at the time the limited quantity message appeared was at a level where the urgency of the communication could not be considered misleading.”
On disguised advertisements, the body specified that “an advertisement resembling editorial or organic content must clearly disclose that it is an advertisement”. For example, posts by influencers, paid reviews, and advertisements are placed in such a way as to appear similar to editorial content.
(Editing by Amritansh Arora)
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