Dark Patterns in Indian Quick Commerce: Consumer Manipulation, Ethical Marketing and The Challenge of Digital Consumer Protection

The rapid rise of quick commerce has fundamentally altered the way Indian consumers buy groceries, household goods, personal-care products and other everyday items. Platforms offering delivery within minutes have created a highly convenient digital consumer experience. However, the same interface design can be used to manipulate consumers in ways that are not always welfare-enhancing. Dark patterns are deceptive or manipulative elements in user-interface design intended to steer consumers toward decisions they would not otherwise make. In the quick commerce ecosystem, these practices can manifest in false urgency, hidden charges, basket sneaking, pre-selected options, confirm-shaming, misleading discounts and difficult cancellation or withdrawal processes. The paper critically examines the use and implications of dark patterns for India's quick-commerce ecosystem, considering perspectives of consumer manipulation, ethical marketing, consumer autonomy and digital consumer protection. The study is based solely on secondary sources, including research papers, regulations, policy documents, industry reports and recent studies on India's quick commerce. Particular attention is paid to the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023 and the emerging regulatory developments. The paper argues that dark patterns represent a fundamental challenge to informed choice, fairness, transparency and responsible marketing. The paper proposes a framework based on the principles of transparent design, meaningful consent, fair pricing communication, consumer education, regular platform audits and enhanced regulatory monitoring. The paper concludes that successful quick-commerce development requires businesses to move away from conversion-focused interface design and adopt approaches to responsible and consumer-centred digital marketing.