Union Minister of Consumer Affairs Prahlad Joshi on Friday said that the Department of Consumer Affairs is probing into complaints made by several customers against e-commerce platforms for imposing arbitrary fees on orders. Calling the practice a “dark pattern” that “exploits customers”, Joshi in a post on X said that strict action will be taken against them. “The Department of Consumer Affairs has received complaints against e-commerce platforms charging extra for Cash-on-Delivery, a practice classified as a dark pattern that misleads and exploits consumers.” he said. This comes after hundreds of customers have taken to the social media complaining against e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart for adding what they called baseless fees when they ordered something online. Several consumers have alleged that these platforms are charging extra amounts for cash on delivery, as well as imposing high platform fees, especially during the festive sale. “A detailed investigation has been initiated and steps are being taken to scrutinize these platforms closely. Strict action will be taken against those violating consumer rights to ensure transparency and uphold fair practices in India’s growing e-commerce sector,” the Union Minister said in his X post. Flipkart, Amazon hike fees amid festive sale Prahlad Joshi's comments come amid the festive sale on e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart, who have been accused of imposing high charges on customers, charging hundreds of rupees as commission. While Joshi did not name any specific platform, he shared a screenshot posted by a user complaining about Flipkart. In the screenshot, it could be seen that Flipkart was charging him a total of ₹226 in fees — ₹99 as platform fees, ₹48 as ‘payment handling fees’, and ₹79 as something called a ‘protect promise fees’. His total order thus totalled to ₹24,225, for an item he thought he would purchase for ₹23,999 after discounts. Flipkart, Amazon, Zomato face consumer heat “Forget Rain Fee by Zomato/Swiggy/Zepto,” the customer wrote. "See the masterstroke by Flipkart: • Offer Handling Fee (for giving me the discount you advertised??) • Payment Handling Fee (for letting me pay you??) • Protect Promise Fee (protecting me from what… satisfaction?)," he said as he posted a screenshot of his purchase. He said that many other platforms are charging such fees as well. “This isn’t just about Flipkart. Many platforms are normalizing extra fees. Amazon with similar charges, Zomato adding a ‘festival fee’, Lenskart with a ‘fitting fee’… and the list goes on,” the complainant said. Many user agreed that online platforms are charging arbitrary fees during the festive and sale season. “I was charged 100Rs by Flipkart becoz the delivery guy will come and open the product and verify to me. Now if I say NO and the product comes out damaged than what ? If I am saying YES I am charged unnecessarily. (There was no NO option) [sic],” a user replied.

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