Consumers report 8 dark patterns on online banking platforms as RBI looks to tighten norms. india news

Last updated:24 February 2026, 19:35 IST

LocalCircles conducted a nationwide survey to examine how consumers are affected and whether they are aware of dark patterns

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a draft directive proposing stringent norms on marketing and selling of financial products, and banning their bundling, dark patterns by banks besides mandating clear customer consent. The draft ‘Responsible Business Conduct Amendment Directions, 2026’ states that all banks will have to ensure that they have no dark patterns by July 2026.

As consumers come across dark patterns and the responsible regulator RBI tries to resolve them, LocalCircles has conducted a nationwide survey to find out how affected consumers are and whether they are more aware of dark patterns.

The survey received over 161,000 responses from users of online banking services located across 388 districts in India. 67% of the respondents were male while 33% of the respondents were female. 44% of the respondents were from Tier 1, 30% from Tier 2 and 26% of the respondents were from Tier 3, 4 and rural districts.

57% say they experienced basket theft

As an increasing number of consumers are using online banking services, the survey asked, “How often on an online banking platform have you experienced that during checkout or finalizing a transaction, additional charges (for example, convenience fees, insurance, alerts or services) were added without your explicit consent or without pre-disclosure?”

Of the 17,991 who responded to the question, 27% said they had experienced “very often” during checkout or finalizing a transaction that additional charges were added without explicit consent or pre-disclosure; 30% of respondents said this happened “sometimes”; 6% of respondents said they “rarely” experienced it; 37% of respondents said they had “never” experienced it.

In short, 57% of online banking users surveyed say they have experienced tampering with online banking platforms, where additional charges are added with or without their explicit consent or pre-disclosure during checkout or finalizing a transaction.

46% say they faced problems with online banking platforms

Online banking users often face the problem of being constantly urged to subscribe to new services or products that are not available free of charge. The survey asked online banking users, “How often have you experienced repeated or persistent prompts on an online banking platform urging you to activate additional services (e.g., credit cards, insurance, overdraft protection or investment options) despite having previously declined?”

The question received 17,837 responses, of which 29% said they experienced persistent signals or disturbing “very often”; 17% of respondents said they had faced reprimands “sometimes”; 16% of respondents said they “rarely” encountered it; 29% of respondents said they “never” experienced harassment; And 9% of the respondents did not give a clear response.

In short, 46% of online banking users surveyed say they have experienced hassles with online banking platforms, where repeated or persistent prompts urge them to activate additional services despite previously refusing.

51% say they faced coercive action

The survey asked online banking users, “How often have you encountered situations on online banking platforms where you were required to sign up for an unrelated service or provide additional personal information (e.g., PAN, phone number, email) to access a feature or complete a transaction that should not be required?”

The question received 18,626 responses. 14% of respondents said they had experienced such a situation, also known as force action, “very often”; 37% of respondents said they had encountered it “sometimes”; 8% of respondents said they have “rarely” encountered this issue; 38% of respondents said they have “never” encountered such a situation and 3% of respondents did not give a clear answer.

In short, 51% of online banking users surveyed say they faced coercive actions where they had to sign up for an unrelated service or provide additional personal information to access a feature or complete a transaction that should not have been required.

45% say they have experienced a subscription trap

The survey asked online banking users, “How often have you encountered situations on online banking platforms where an account or service acts as a “subscription trap” – that is, the service can be easily initiated online but cancellation requires visiting a physical branch or contacting customer support during business hours, discouraging users from terminating the service or subscription?”

The question received 18,030 responses, of which 25% said they had encountered subscription traps “very often”; 20% of respondents said they had encountered it “sometimes”; 20% of respondents said they “rarely” encountered them; 31% of respondents said they had “never” encountered it and 4% of respondents did not give a clear answer.

In short, 45% of online banking users surveyed say they have experienced the subscription trap where service can be easily initiated online but cancellation requires visiting a physical branch during business hours or contacting customer support.

46% say they have experienced bait and switch

The survey asked online banking users, “How often have you experienced a ‘bait and switch’ scenario when using an online banking platform – where the product or service ultimately provided or introduced was different from what was originally presented or agreed upon at the time of sign-up?”

Of the 34,869 who responded to the question, 25% said they had experienced the ‘bait and switch’ scenario “very often”; 21% of respondents said they faced it “sometimes”; 9% of respondents said they “rarely” experienced it; 29% of respondents said they had “never” experienced it and 16% of respondents did not give a clear answer.

In short, 46% of online banking users surveyed say they experienced bait and switches where the product or service ultimately provided or introduced was different from what was originally presented or agreed upon at the time of sign-up.

37% say they have experienced interface interference

The survey asked online banking users, “How often have you experienced interruptions when conducting a transaction on an online banking platform where the interface was changed or redirected to promote or offer an unrelated product or service for purchase?”

Of the 18,151 who responded to the question, 12% said they experienced interface interference “very often”; 25% of respondents said they had encountered it “sometimes”; 18% of respondents said they “rarely” encountered this dark pattern; 40% of respondents said they had “never” experienced it and 5% of respondents did not give a clear answer.

In short, 37% of online banking users surveyed say they experienced interface interference where the interface was changed or redirected to promote or offer a product or service unrelated to purchase.

64% say they have experienced hidden fees/drip pricing on transactions

The survey asked online banking users, “How often have you encountered instances where online banking platforms levy hidden charges (except statutory taxes) on transactions, which were not transparently disclosed at the time of initiation but were later debited from your account?”

Of the 18,047 who responded to the question, 22% said they faced such situations “often”; 42% of respondents said they faced it “sometimes”; 30% of respondents said they had “never” experienced it and 6% of respondents did not give a clear answer.

In short, 64% of online banking users surveyed say they experienced hidden fees/drip pricing on transactions that were not transparently disclosed at the time of initiation, but were later debited from their account.

45% say they have experienced a trick in asking questions

The survey asked online banking users, “How often have you encountered misleading or deceptive language (e.g., double negativity, unclear options) when navigating or selecting an online banking platform – such as opt out messages or declining offers?”

Of the 18,446 who responded to the question, 13% said they encountered misleading or confusing language “very often”; 32% of respondents indicated that they had encountered it “sometimes”; 18% of respondents said they “rarely” encountered it; 31% of respondents said they had “never” encountered it and 6% of respondents did not give a clear answer.

In short, 45% of online banking users surveyed say they experienced trick inquiries when they encountered confusing or misleading language when navigating or selecting an online banking platform – such as opting out messages or declining offers.

survey

The survey was conducted through the LocalCircles platform, and all participants were valid citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey. The survey has been conducted using the proprietary LocalCircles stratified sampling methodology. All polls were run with a minimum target of 30% participation from each gender and 20% participation from each location group (i.e. Metro/Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3-4 and Rural) at each poll. After meeting minimum participation criteria, all surveys were run until they achieved steady state. Using a bootstrapping technique, the LocalCircles system drew additional samples to test the possibility of error. All surveys were found to have a margin of error of less than 3% and a confidence level of more than 97%.

LocalCircles, a community social media platform, enables citizens and small businesses to raise issues for policy and enforcement intervention and enables the government to make policies that are citizen and small business centric.

read more