The consumer watchdog, headed by chief commissioner Nidhi Khare and commissioner Anupam Mishra, imposed a penalty of ₹5 lakh on PhysicsWallah and ₹1 lakh on McAfee. Both companies have also been directed to discontinue the identified practices and ensure that consumers are able to make informed choices without manipulation or undue pressure.
The action was 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.
According to CCPA, PhysicsWallah came under scrutiny after the authority took suo motu cognisance of certain practices on its platform.
The regulator found that a ₹10 donation to the PW Foundation was automatically selected during the checkout process and added to the amount payable without obtaining explicit consent from consumers.
The authority also observed that users were shown emotionally charged messages relating to children's education, healthcare and marriages, encouraging them to retain the pre-selected donation option.
Additionally, courses advertised as 'free' could only be accessed after users provided personal information such as mobile numbers and email addresses.
CCPA's examination found that the content available through these courses remained identical across user accounts, indicating that personal information collection was not essential for access.
The authority identified multiple dark patterns on the platform, including ‘basket sneaking’ through the automatic addition of donations, ‘confirm shaming’ by discouraging users from opting out, and ‘forced action’ by requiring personal information before granting access to free content.
The regulator held that consumer consent cannot be presumed through pre-selected options and must be obtained through clear affirmative action. It further noted that advertising courses as free without adequately disclosing mandatory registration and data-sharing requirements amounted to a misleading practice.
According to CCPA, these actions impaired consumers' ability to make free and informed decisions and constituted unfair trade practices under consumer protection laws. The authority also expressed concern that a significant proportion of PhysicsWallah's users are students, including minors, making such practices particularly problematic from a consumer protection perspective.
McAfee Software India was separately penalised over its subscription renewal process, which the regulator found did not provide consumers with a neutral choice when deciding whether to continue their subscriptions.
According to CCPA, users were prominently presented with two options — ‘Renew Now’ and ‘Accept Risk’ — effectively portraying non-renewal as a risky decision.
The authority observed that the phrase ‘Accept Risk’ suggested consumers would become vulnerable to cybersecurity threats if they chose not to renew their subscriptions, a claim that the company could neither guarantee nor substantiate.
The regulator found that the design of the renewal interface created pressure on consumers to continue paying for subscriptions. It identified several dark patterns in the process, including 'confirm shaming', 'interface interference', 'trick question' and 'forced action'.
CCPA noted that subscription decisions should be made freely and without fear-based messaging or manipulative design elements. It concluded that McAfee's renewal interface employed deceptive practices capable of influencing consumer decisions and therefore amounted to an unfair trade practice.
The authority has directed McAfee to remove such practices from its website, applications and other digital interfaces and to ensure compliance with consumer protection regulations.
The latest enforcement action forms part of CCPA's broader campaign against dark patterns in the digital marketplace.
The Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023, notified in November 2023, identify 13 categories of dark patterns that are considered unfair trade practices. These include basket sneaking, confirm shaming, forced action, interface interference and trick questions.
To strengthen compliance, the regulator issued an advisory in June 2025 directing e-commerce companies and digital platforms to conduct self-audits and eliminate manipulative design practices from their interfaces.
CCPA said the objective of these measures is to ensure greater transparency in digital transactions and protect consumers from deceptive online practices that can distort purchasing decisions.
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