IndiGo Asked for Website Changes Amid ‘Unintentional Purchases’ Cybercrime Complaints

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has requested that low-cost carrier IndiGo make changes to its website in response to a number of complaints about practices by airlines and online travel agencies that fool customers into making unintentional purchases—such as paying for seats—while booking flight tickets. One government official referred to these practices as a “cybercrime.”

The scandal involving the airline with a 60% market share occurs just a few days prior to a meeting scheduled for November 9th by the Consumer Affairs Ministry to address similar grievances from travelers. Participants will include representatives from consumer advocacy organizations, airlines, online travel agencies, and the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

The meeting’s agenda includes concerns about airline websites that display all available seats as paid at the time of purchase, instances when passengers have legal tickets but refused boarding, and delays in refunding cancelled flights.

“Dark Patterns”

Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh told The Hindu that some of these practices amounted to “dark patterns,” in which the user interface of websites intended to trick customers. “A dark pattern is one where an entity nudges consumers to buy products they didn’t intend to, which is an unfair trading practice, and can constitute a cybercrime,” Singh said in response to the question. He continued by saying that there appeared to be a systematic practice of deceiving customers in the present internet world.

The Hindu’s preliminary examination of airline websites, apps, and online portals revealed that these “dark patterns” were common. Up to the time of going to print, inquiries submitted to IndiGo, SpiceJet, and MakeMyTrip not returned.

Changing the seat that you choose

For example, IndiGo’s website uses a tactic called “false urgency” to make it appear as though customers purchasing an airline ticket must pay an additional ₹99 to ₹1,500 to acquire a seat in order to complete the transaction, as all available seats are displayed as unavailable. There are occasionally four or five free seats available, however they are usually in the bottom of the aircraft and can be more difficult to find and access on the website.

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