PhysicsWallah fined Rs 5 lakh, McAfee Rs 1 lakh for practices affecting informed consumer choice

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), headed by Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare and Commissioner Anupam Mishra, has imposed penalties on PhysicsWallah Limited and McAfee Software India Private Limited for using dark pattern practices that misled consumers and influenced their choices on digital platforms, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said on Wednesday.

“PhysicsWallah has been fined Rs 5 lakh, while McAfee has been fined Rs 1 lakh. Both companies have been directed to remove such practices from their platforms and ensure that consumers are able to make informed choices without pressure or manipulation,” the Ministry said in a statement.

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The action has been taken under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, and the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023.

The CCPA took suo motu cognisance of certain practices on the PhysicsWallah platform and found that consumers were being influenced through interface designs that affected their ability to make free and informed choices.

A donation of Rs 10 to the PW Foundation was automatically selected during checkout and added to the total payable amount without the consumer’s explicit consent.

Consumers were shown emotional messages related to children’s education, healthcare and marriages, encouraging them to keep the donation selected.

Courses advertised as “free” could only be accessed after users shared personal information such as their mobile number and email address.

CCPA’s examination found that the content offered remained the same across user accounts, indicating that mandatory data collection was not essential for accessing the courses.

Dark Patterns Identified includes Basket Sneaking – Automatic addition of a donation during checkout, Confirm Shaming – Emotional messaging that discouraged users from removing the donation, and Forced Action – Requiring users to share personal information before accessing courses advertised as free.