Cashbacks To Hidden Charges, How Online Payment Platforms Manipulate Customers

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posted on 1 month ago — updated on 1 second ago

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A recent survey revealed that most customers get lured to online payment platforms in the name of cashback and subscription rewards but are not paid after joining.

In today’s world, everyone gets lured by the cashback and discount offers that are offered by online payment platforms. We often see offers and discounts available in most of the products but do you know that such platforms also cheat on the customers after luring them in the name of offers and discounts? At first, customers buy a certain product after seeing a cashback offer but the cashback payment is never received.

A recent survey revealed that most customers get lured to online payment platforms in the name of cashback and subscription rewards but are not paid after joining the platform or buying that specific commodity. The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) on Tuesday named 13 types of dark patterns, misleading advertisements or unfair trade practices that violate consumer rights. These include hidden charges, subscription cash backs etc.

The 13 types of dark patterns identified by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) include false urgency, basket sneaking, confirm shaming, forced action, subscription trap, interface interference, bait and switch, drip pricing, disguised advertisement, nagging, trick questions, etc.

According to the Survey by LocalCircles which involved over 45,000 participants, more than 52 per cent of the respondents have faced hidden charges related issues while a whopping 67 per cent of the users have experienced subscription traps. Another famous dark pattern that is often experienced by users is Bait and Switch which is experienced by around 62 per cent of the respondents. In this users are often offered cashback schemes for making extra payments but are never paid the incentive.

The government of India tagged illegal to such practices in December 2023 and has also added a fine if found practising such dark patterns. The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) clearly stated that if there is an attempt to manipulate or influence the customers through these dark patterns a penalty of Rs 10 lakh will be charged against the online payment platforms.