RBI Issues Draft Directions on Fair Marketing and Sales Practices

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued draft Amendment Directions for ‘Advertising, Marketing and Sales of Financial Products and Services by Regulated Entities’ applicable to all banks and NBFCs. The proposed framework seeks to address concerns around dark patterns, mis-selling, compulsory bundling, and other unfair practices. The amendments, which modify the existing norms on Responsible Business Conduct and the Undertaking of Financial Services by Regulated Entities, are proposed to come into effect from July 1, 2026, and April 1, 2026, respectively.

The draft introduces clear definitions of concepts ranging from dark patterns to compulsory bundling and lays down guardrails to prevent banks, their employees, and agents from adopting aggressive or misleading sales practices. It mandates that regulated entities formulate a comprehensive internal policy governing the advertising, marketing, and sale of both proprietary and third-party financial products and services. Such policies must address suitability and appropriateness assessments, grievance redressal and feedback mechanisms, customer compensation frameworks, and related safeguards.

Further, the draft requires banks to establish detailed eligibility criteria, due diligence processes, training protocols, assignment structures, performance evaluation standards, and monitoring and control mechanisms for Direct Selling Agents (DSAs) and Direct Marketing Agents (DMAs).

The framework also strengthens consent requirements by defining “explicit consent” and placing the onus on banks to ensure that such consent is clearly obtained and demonstrable. Importantly, in certain instances of mis-selling, the existence of explicit consent will not absolve the bank of liability. The conduct of bank employees, DSAs, and DMAs is to be closely regulated to prevent coercive or misleading behaviour. Communication, including telephonic outreach and other modes of engagement, must be undertaken in a fair, appropriate, and non-intrusive manner.

Additionally, the draft outlines structured feedback and compensation mechanisms to guide regulated entities. For clarity, it provides illustrative examples of prohibited dark patterns, including false urgency, basket sneaking, confirm shaming, and forced action.

The drafts follow the announcement made in the Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies dated February 6, 2026, setting out various developmental and regulatory policy measures relating to regulations, the payments system, financial inclusion, financial markets, and capacity building.

The Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns were notified by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) in November 2023 to prohibit platforms, advertisers, and sellers from indulging in specified unethical practices. In June 2025, the CCPA had to issue an advisory urging e-commerce platforms to identify and eliminate such practices through self-audits to be conducted within three months.

Comments may be submitted by March 4, 2026, through email or the Connect 2 Regulate section on the RBI website.