8 in 10 flyers hit by hidden charges on airline apps, websites: LocalCircles survey on dark patterns

Hyderabad: In the context of the Indigo cancellation crisis, whose effect is continuing to disrupt air travel across the country, LocalCircles has found that Indian airlines continue to use dark patterns in their websites and app interfaces to deceive passengers or impose hidden charges.

The study found that processes like ticket booking, seat assignment, purchase of add-on services like insurance, and especially cancellation and refunds, are riddled with dark patterns. As many as 80 per cent of consumers surveyed who used airline apps/websites to book tickets in the last 12 months say they have frequently experienced hidden charges.

What are dark patterns?

Dark Patterns are design or user interface tactics deliberately created to manipulate or deceive users into making decisions that may not be in their best interest.

For example, an airline that promises a full refund on ticket cancellation can disable the ticket cancellation tab, forcing the user to hold their ticket or accept a lower refund.

Similarly, during the ticket booking process, the airlines would try to sell insurance by displaying a message that says ‘I will stay unsecured’. This action becomes mandatory for the user who must click on it if they choose not add travel or baggage insurance to their cart.

Though the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has issued a few notices to airlines in 2023. However, the issues persisted; resolution by airlines has been limited regarding transparent communication, on seat assignment and usage of confirmations and the shaming dark pattern in the insurance section, according to the consumers.

Example of Bait & Switch dark pattern by Indigo

LocalCircles found that even as the Indigo crisis was going on, users were experiencing an increase in dark patterns on airlines' platforms, such as all kinds of charges being deducted when they attempted to cancel a ticket directly or via various travel aggregators.

In one example, a ticket price of Rs 39,180 paid by the user who attempted to cancel was being given a refund of Rs 1,788 despite Indigo promising full return there by classifying it as a Bait & Switch dark pattern.

The bait here is clearly the full refund promise given to calm the angry passengers, followed by switching it to a different outcome which is favourable to the platform.

Indigo continued to sell tickets during crisis

Similarly, tickets were still sold by Indigo to consumers for flights it knew were not likely to be operational.

The Bait & Switch dark pattern, frequently experienced by 70 per cent of consumers in the last 12 months, is also often to manipulate fares where a lower fare is displayed and in the booking process towards the end, it is changed to a higher amount.

Example of Forced Action dark pattern

As many as 64 per cent of consumers surveyed in the LocalCircles survey, who used airline apps/websites for transacting, be it booking, seat assignment, cancellation and refunds, also confirmed experiencing the Forced Action dark pattern

In this dark pattern, an action against the user’s wishes or consent is forced upon them and is different from the promised action.

Forced Action is also the number one dark pattern prevalent on online platforms in India.

For example, in the latest disruption, when Indigo announced that they were accepting unconditional cancellations and full refunds when users with a flight ticket attempted to cancel, they found that the cancellation option was greyed out, with them only being given the ability to modify their booking but not cancel it.

Covid era saw similar patterns

During Covid too, airlines deployed this practice, where instead of letting consumers cancel their flights, they would force them to opt for a different date in the future. As many as 24 per cent of consumers in the survey confirmed experiencing this sometimes but not as frequently.

The dangers of hidden charges aka Drip Pricing

As many as 80 per cent of consumers surveyed who used airline apps/websites to book tickets in the last 12 months say they have frequently experienced hidden charges associated with flight ticket booking that are not presented upfront but only when they are ready to finalise the trip and make the final payment.

These charges appear under heads like convenience fee or platform fee.

Though Indigo intimates the user upfront, airline apps like Air India, Spicejet and Akasa don’t, thereby surprising the user. This dark pattern, classified as Drip Pricing, is also the second most used dark pattern on online platforms in India.

As many as 35 per cent of consumers surveyed who use airline apps/websites say they have very frequently experienced Confirm Shaming dark pattern, where a language is used that made them feel guilty, fearful or shamed when declining optional services.

Other dark patterns on airline websites and apps that users confirmed experiencing include False Urgency, being experienced very frequently by 56 per cent of consumers and Nagging, being frequently experienced by 40 per cent of consumers.

The role of the government

The need of the hour is for CCPA to study these airline dark patterns in detail and get all the airlines to ensure compliance. The latest Indigo disruption has amplified the usage of dark patterns further, and if no action is taken immediately, it will leave many more grieving consumers with reduced trust in airlines and the regulators.

Extent of survey

The LocalCircle study received over 1,24,000 responses from users of airline services in 302 districts; 67 per cent of respondents were men, while 33 per cent of respondents were women; 46 per cent of respondents were from tier 1, 29 per cent from tier 2 and 25 per cent of respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts.

Disclaimer: All screenshots used as examples of dark patterns in airline platforms and apps were provided by the LocalCircles survey.