Overview
- Datum Intelligence published an 88‑page study on June 9 that surveyed about 2,590 consumers across 50 cities and analysed 12 major platforms to measure how deceptive interface designs extract money from users.
- The report estimates Indian shoppers lose between Rs 25,000 and Rs 28,000 crore a year, equal to roughly Rs 78–87 per affected buyer each month, with about 88% of the country’s 304 million online buyers reporting harm.
- Datum’s Benchmarking Index shows wide platform variation, with Nykaa scoring worst and Amazon scoring best in e‑commerce, while BigBasket and Cleartrip rank among the most harmful in quick commerce and travel respectively.
- The study details common tactics — forced actions, drip pricing, hidden charges, false urgency and pre‑selected add‑ons — and finds 63% of payment users now face hidden charges and 73% of platforms deploy forced‑action designs.
- Datum calls for a three‑stage fix: ban pre‑ticked add‑ons and require all‑inclusive pricing at search results, build mandatory audit and transparency rules for large platforms, and publish third‑party UX audit scores to strengthen enforcement and rebuild trust.