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Be careful about online shopping during festival season

During festivals, millions of people look for special offers on e-commerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart. Recently, the central government has warned consumers about a new fraud. This warning is about a fraudulent practice called ‘drip pricing’, which involves charging hidden charges when making online purchases.

What is drip pricing?

Drip pricing is a marketing technique in which the total price of a product is not shown in advance. When the customer reaches the payment page, additional charges like handling fees, platform charges or service tax are gradually added. For example, if the price of a smartwatch is shown to be Rs 4,000, the bill may reach Rs 4,200 at the time of payment.

Reason for government warning

Recently the consumer ministry’s awareness handle @jagograhakjago has classified drip pricing as a dark pattern. This technique encourages users to make purchases based on incomplete information. The government said such practices mislead consumers and have a negative impact on business transparency. All e-commerce companies have been asked to display the full price of products, taxes and necessary charges in advance. This step is an important effort towards ensuring transparency and fair trading in the online market.

How to Identify Drip Pricing

To identify drip pricing, if you reach the payment page and see an increase in price, or a mandatory charge cannot be removed, understand that the platform is using drip pricing. To avoid this, be sure to check the final price before confirming the order. Compare different websites and pay attention to terms like handling or service charge. If you come across such a case on any website, you can lodge a complaint on the National Consumer Helpline 1915 or on consumerhelpline.gov.in.