October 3, 2025

Big News for Online Shoppers! The government has kicked off a serious investigation into popular online shopping sites. Why? These sites are accused of sneaky extra charges! Imagine ordering something and picking Cash-On-Delivery (CoD) – but bam! You get charged more just for choosing that payment method. How unfair is that? Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi confirmed the probe on Friday. He said the department wants to stop these tricky tactics damaging consumer trust. He labeled these extra CoD fees as "dark patterns." What’s a dark pattern? It’s a clever, sneaky design trick that pushes buyers into choices that actually hurt them. These shady fees are not just small annoyances. They mislead buyers and violate their rights. To fight back, the government recently toughened rules for online sellers, banning dirty tactics like drip pricing (where prices slowly creep up), hidden ads, and subscription traps that sneakily lock customers in. This move aims to make e-commerce safer, fairer, and more transparent. After all, shopping online should feel easy and honest, not like a tricky game to confuse the buyer! The Department of Consumer Affairs is now digging deep into these complaints, ready to catch and correct such unfair practices. So next time you see extra fees for paying by CoD, remember: the government is watching and ready to act!

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Tags: Online shopping, Cash on delivery, Consumer rights, Ecommerce investigation, Dark pattern, Pralhad joshi,