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The government is taking initial steps to eliminate manipulative and deceptive tactics that are found to be rampant among ecommerce platforms in India

- By NAINI THAKER

In a country where public trust in online payment methods is still evolving, cash-on-delivery (CoD) remains the preferred mode of payment for millions of shoppers.

However, there is a gradual shift taking place towards online payments.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has launched a sweeping investigation into ecommerce platforms, including Amazon and Flipkart, for allegedly levying hidden charges on CoD orders and delaying refunds on cancellation of prepaid orders—practices the government has labelled “dark patterns”. These patterns generally refer to designs and payment journeys on digital purchase interfaces that mislead or manipulate users into making choices they might not otherwise make, or insert additional charges and fees that the user may not be aware of while making purchase choices.

Recently, a social media post showing a Flipkart order with multiple ambiguous charges such as 'Offer handling fee' of ₹99, a 'Payment handling fee' of ₹49, and a 'Protect Promise Fee' of ₹79 led to widespread discussion. The post sparked outrage among social media users, who compared these charges to the infamous 'Rain fee' on food delivery apps like Zomato and Swiggy. Forbes India reached out to Flipkart for a comment, but received no response by the time of publication.

Following this, Minister of Consumer Affairs Pralhad Joshi called these charges deceptive, and confirmed that a detailed investigation had been initiated.

WHY COD STILL MATTERS