IRDAI Directs Insurers to Scrap Dark Patterns From Websites and Apps
IRDAI: India’s insurance regulator has ordered the industry to strip deceptive design tricks from its websites and apps, appointing an independent auditor after insurers’ own self-assessments turned up almost nothing — despite widespread consumer complaints.
IRDAI Chairman Ajay Seth has ordered insurers to remove manipulative "dark patterns" from digital platforms.
IRDAI: NEW DELHI — The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has directed insurance companies to eliminate “dark patterns” — manipulative design features on websites and apps that pressure or mislead customers — and has appointed an independent body to audit the industry’s compliance over the next nine months.
IRDAI Chairman Ajay Seth said many insurance websites require customers to hand over largeamounts of personal information before they are even allowed to view products or compare prices, a practice he said discourages comparison shopping and turns away consumers who are already hesitant about buying insurance.
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IRDAI: A Consumer Complaint That Wouldn’t Go Away
The directive follows months of pressure from consumer advocacy groups. A nationwide survey by LocalCircles found that more than eight in ten users of online insurance platforms had encountered at least one dark pattern, ranging from hidden costs to fake urgency messages and pre-selected add-ons that were difficult to remove. In April 2026, IRDAI first asked all insurers and aggregators to conduct self-assessments of their own digital platforms and report back on any dark patterns they found. According to the regulator, nearly all insurers reported that they used no such practices — a response that officials viewed with skepticism given the volume of consumer complaints on record.
IRDAI: What Happens Next: An Independent Audit
Unsatisfied with the self-reported results, IRDAI has now partnered with the Institute of Public Auditors of India (IPAI) to independently monitor insurance websites and apps for dark patterns over a nine-month period. The audit is expected to identify companies using manipulative digital practices and recommend corrective action. Insurers have also been directed to align their platforms with the Central Consumer Protection Authority’s (CCPA) Guidelines on Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, first issued in November 2023, which classify 13 specific practices as unfair trade practices under Indian consumer protection law.
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IRDAI: What Counts as a “Dark Pattern”
Regulators and consumer groups have flagged several recurring practices on insurance platforms, including:
Demanding extensive personal data before showing product details or pricing.
Displaying false urgency, such as “only a few policies left” messages.
Pre-selecting add-on covers, like accidental or critical illness riders, that are hard to deselect.
Adding extra products to a customer’s cart without clear consent (“basket sneaking”).
Revealing full costs or co-payments only at the final step of a transaction.
Sending repeated promotional calls or messages after a customer’s contact details are captured.
IRDAI: Why It Matters
IRDAI officials have linked dark patterns directly to mis-selling, a long-standing problem in the sector in which agents, brokers, and banks sell complex insurance products to customers who do not fully understand them. Seth said the goal of the crackdown is to make digital insurance platforms “more understandable, more trusted, and more actionable” for consumers.
The move places IRDAI alongside the Reserve Bank of India, which has already directed banks to remove dark patterns from banking apps, making IRDAI the second major Indian financial regulator this year to take formal action on the issue.
IRDAI: What It Means for Consumers
nsurers found non-compliant after the IPAI audit will be required to submit corrective action plans, according to the regulator. For policyholders, the changes are expected to mean fewer forced data walls before viewing prices, clearer opt-in requirements for add-ons, and more upfront disclosure of total costs.IRDAI has not yet specified penalties for insurers that fail to comply once the nine-month audit concludes.
Consumer advocates have welcomed the move but caution that lasting change will depend on enforcement rather than announcements alone. Past self-assessment exercises across financial services have often produced favorable reports from companies with little independent verification, which is why analysts see the IPAI audit as the more meaningful test of IRDAI’s intent.
Industry watchers also note that insurers reworking their platforms now, ahead of any formal penalty framework, may gain a trust advantage over competitors who wait for enforcement. For consumers, experts recommend continuing to read policy documents carefully, checking pre-selected add-ons before checkout, and reporting suspicious website behavior to IRDAI’s grievance channels in the meantime, since platform-wide changes are unlikely to happen
