CCPA Imposes ₹1 Lakh Penalty on SpiceJet for Use of Dark Patterns

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (“CCPA”) recently imposed a penalty of one lakh rupees on SpiceJet Limited for using “dark patterns” on its website for SpiceClub membership enrollment by consent. The CCPA found that the impugned renewal interface deployed by Spicejet constituted multiple dark patterns prohibited under the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023, including “Trick Question”, “Interface Interference” and “Forced Action”, resulting in unfair trade practices, misleading representations and impairment of consumer choice and informed decision-making.

This problem originated from the on-line purchase of flight tickets, where a SpiceJet ticket purchaser would have to deselect an automatically pre-checked box to opt-out of SpiceClub enrollment.  The CCPA reasoned that such a design would manipulate the ticket purchaser’s behavior and impede free and informed consent.

The CCPA found that Spicejet had violated Section 2(28)- Misleading advertisement, Section 2(47)- Unfair Trade Practice and Section 2(46)- Unfair Contract of the Consumer Protection Act 2019, the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 and the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023. Although Spicejet had rectified the error pursuant to the directions issued in March 2026, herein it furnished an undertaking along with a screenshot of the relevant section of its website. the CCPA imposed a penalty and sought periodic compliance report.

The CCPA reiterated that a digital service provider must offer users and consumers clear, transparent, and equitable choices, rather than design interfaces to behaviorally nudge and/or deceive consumers into making choices that they would not otherwise voluntarily make.

In June 2025, the CCPA had issued an advisory urging e-commerce platforms to identify and eliminate such practices through self-audits to be conducted within three months and the Department of Consumer Affairs had set up a working group to identify dark pattern violations and share findings with the Department on a regular basis.