Sellers must clearly display all additional charges and provide a clear explanation of any extra charges, if applicable, while also indicating any special discounts.
The tricky online retailers, who betray customers, cannot escape easily. Recently, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) imposed a penalty of ₹2,00,000 under Sections 10, 20, and 21 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, on Digital Age Retail (FirstCry) for making false and misleading price representations.
The retailer published misleading advertisements and engaged in unfair trade practices on its e-commerce platform (www.firstcry.com). FirstCry displayed products with the representation “MRP inclusive of all taxes.” But at the checkout stage, an additional GST was levied on the discounted price. That was a tricky sale of a product on MRP with additional GST, which negated the MRP tag. This created a misleading impression of higher discounts and misled consumers about the final payable amount.
The investigation revealed that the practice of advertising discounts on the MRP, but separately charging GST on the discounted price, significantly reduced the benefit to consumers.
The disclaimers, such as “additional charges may apply” or “GST and additional charges may apply on the discounted price,” are negations of the stated MRP. By stating the price as tax-inclusive and then adding GST at checkout, the company engaged in “drip pricing,” a dark pattern as per the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023, which misled consumers about the final amount payable and undermined informed decision-making. CCPA ordered the company to display both the original and discounted prices always, inclusive of all taxes, and to clearly disclose any additional charges, such as shipping or convenience fees.
