80% of OTT users report digital fraud, LocalCircles survey finds:Respondents included 61% men, 39% women; demand stricter regulation

The use of dark patterns, deceptive design practices that mislead users on digital platforms, is increasing across OTT services. According to a LocalCircles survey, 8 in 10 Indian users, or 80%, said they had fallen victim to such misleading tactics while using OTT apps. The survey received responses from more than 1.18 lakh people across 324 districts in India. Of the respondents, 61% were men and 39% were women. Amid rising consumer complaints, there are growing calls for the government to take stricter action against OTT platforms and ban deceptive practices such as dark patterns. Lawsuit against Amazon Prime Video in Australia Australia’s consumer regulator has filed a lawsuit against Amazon over the introduction of adverts on Prime Video and additional charges for an ad free experience. The regulator alleges that Amazon unfairly changed the terms of Prime memberships without obtaining customers’ informed consent. When adverts were introduced in 2024, more than 850,000 customers who had already paid for an annual Prime subscription were required to pay an additional fee to continue watching without adverts. Those who chose not to pay were automatically moved to a version of the service that included adverts. What are the rules in India In India, Dark Pattern Prevention and Regulation Guidelines have been in effect since November 30, 2023. The rules apply to all digital platforms including e-commerce, apps, OTT, travel, and food delivery. The guidelines prohibit 13 types of dark patterns. These include False Urgency, Subscription Trap, Drip Pricing, Disguised Ads, Confirm Shaming, and Bait and Switch. How users can protect themselves Turn off auto-renewal before and after taking a subscription, keep payment alerts, read trial terms, and save a screenshot of the cancellation. The purpose of dark patterns is to induce users to make decisions not by their will, but through design and psychological methods, which result in greater profit for the company.