The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), headed by Chief Commissioner Smt. Nidhi Khare and Commissioner Shri Anupam Mishra, has imposed penalties on PhysicsWallah Limited and McAfee Software India Private Limited for using dark pattern practices that misled consumers and influenced their choices on digital platforms.

PhysicsWallah has been fined ₹5 lakh, while McAfee has been fined ₹1 lakh. Both companies have been directed to remove such practices from their platforms and ensure that consumers are able to make informed choices without pressure or manipulation.

The action has been taken under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, and the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023.

PhysicsWallah Limited: Pre-selected Donations and Misleading ‘Free’ Courses

CCPA took suo motu cognizance of certain practices on the PhysicsWallah platform and found that consumers were being influenced through interface designs that affected their ability to make free and informed choices.

What CCPA Found

A donation of ₹10 to the PW Foundation was automatically selected during checkout and added to the total payable amount without the consumer’s explicit consent.
Consumers were shown emotional messages related to children’s education, healthcare and marriages, encouraging them to keep the donation selected.
Courses advertised as “free” could only be accessed after users shared personal information such as their mobile number and email address.
CCPA’s examination found that the content offered remained the same across user accounts, indicating that mandatory data collection was not essential for accessing the courses.
Dark Patterns Identified

Basket Sneaking – Automatic addition of a donation during checkout.
Confirm Shaming – Emotional messaging that discouraged users from removing the donation.
Forced Action – Requiring users to share personal information before accessing courses advertised as free.
CCPA observed that:

Consumer consent cannot be assumed through pre-selected options and must always be obtained through a clear and affirmative action.
Advertising courses as “free” without clearly informing users about mandatory registration and data-sharing requirements was misleading.
The practices amounted to unfair trade practices and interfered with consumers’ ability to make informed decisions.
Since a large number of users on the platform are students, including minors, such practices raised serious consumer protection concerns.