The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) recently found that online pharmacy PharmEasy auto-subscribed users to a paid service without obtaining explicit consent, holding that the design amounted to the “basket sneaking” dark pattern. The regulator imposed a ₹2 lakh penalty and directed the company to amend its platform design and terms & conditions to ensure full compliance. A coram of Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare and Commissioner Anupam Mishra concluded that the auto-subscription feature was misleading and unfair. “The opposite party engaged in the dark pattern known as "Basket Sneaking", which involves pre-selecting or automatically adding paid options or services at the time of checkout without the explicit consent of the user, resulting in a misleading rep

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