Forced actions, hidden charges: Why is it harder to cancel OTT subscriptions in India

Hyderabad: Indian consumers are increasingly encountering manipulative design tactics known as dark patterns on Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms, making it harder to cancel subscriptions, avoid hidden charges, or even watch ad-free content despite paying for it.

A new nationwide survey conducted by LocalCircles has revealed that over 50% of respondents have frequently faced difficulty in cancelling subscriptions to OTT or online services due to hidden or unavailable cancellation options.

The survey gathered more than 95,000 responses from users across 353 districts in India, marking one of the largest citizen-driven audits of dark patterns in the OTT space to date.

Forced Actions, Hidden Charges, and Unexpected Ads Among Top Complaints

One of the most prevalent issues is the “forced action” pattern, where users are made to take unrelated steps like sharing unnecessary personal details or installing an additional app. According to the findings, 77% of respondents reported that they had frequently encountered this dark pattern when attempting to access certain content on OTT platforms.

“Lately, many consumers have also reported the Forced Action dark pattern in the context of a new unexpected term forced upon them, citing advertisements,” the report noted. “Many of them bought the OTT subscription to experience ad-free content watching, unlike television, only to find during their contract term that the OTT platform has introduced ads or is demanding that they pay a higher price for an ad-free viewing experience.”

SAAS Billing and Subscription Traps Frustrate Users

The study found that 24% of users experienced platforms continuing to charge them even after cancellation of their subscription, a tactic known as the SAAS billing dark pattern. In many cases, these charges occurred automatically, taking advantage of consumers forgetting to cancel trials or struggling to locate cancellation options.

On the question of subscription cancellation, 10% of consumers said they “very frequently” found it difficult to cancel subscriptions, while another 40% said they experienced this “sometimes.” Only 10% reported “never” facing such problems, while 20% didn’t provide a clear answer.

Bait-and-Switch: Rental Charges After Subscription

A significant number of consumers, 53%, said that they were not informed upfront that some movies and shows would still require additional rental charges even after paying for an OTT subscription.

This aligns with the bait and switch pattern, where consumers are promised one service but discover mid-use that additional payments are necessary to access certain content.

Drip Pricing and Interface Interference Also Rampant

Another commonly reported dark pattern was drip pricing, where hidden fees such as convenience charges or taxes are added at the last step of checkout. A total of 47% of respondents said they had experienced this frequently.

“Indian OTT platforms often display a lower ‘headline price’ and later add mandatory fees or charges during the checkout process,” the report said.

Further, 86% of surveyed users reported experiencing interface interference — a design trick that hides or minimizes the visibility of cancellation or “decline” options by greying them out or using a smaller font compared to prominent “accept” or “subscribe” buttons.

A Growing List of Dark Patterns

Based on complaints from over 230,000 consumers and analysis of 245 platforms, LocalCircles identified 9 types of dark patterns in use on Indian OTT platforms:

• Drip Pricing – found on 83% of platforms

• Subscription Trap – 75%

• Forced Action – 67%

• Interface Interference – 58%

• SAAS Billing – 58%

• Privacy Zuckering – 42%

• Nagging – 17%

• Bait & Switch – 17%

• Disguised Ads – 8%