Subscription Trap, Drip Pricing: 50% OTT users unhappy with dark patterns

Tracking the time of your favourite TV show or movie, sitting together as a group in front of a common TV screen, and timing your bathroom and snack breaks with commercials have now become a thing of the past with the rise of OTT in India. 

However, as Indians become increasingly dependent on online streaming platforms, along with OTT, dark patterns related to OTT have also seen a considerable rise. A recent survey conducted by LocalCircles has identified six common dark patterns, about which 50% of survey participants are concerned.

Founded in 2012 in Noida, LocalCircles is a community social media platform that connects citizens and small businesses to discuss and elevate problems of urban living. It also conducts online surveys in India to poll on important civic issues. 

Over 95,000 OTT users were surveyed across 353 districts in India. About 44% of the respondents were from tier-1, 25% from tier-2, and 31% from tier-3 & 4 districts. 63% of respondents were male and 37% were female. 

The objective of this survey was to highlight growing public frustration around OTT dark patterns in India. Dark patterns are defined as intentional manipulative practices that employ deceptive user interfaces on apps or websites, benefiting the company while harming the consumer. 

Key survey findings 

• 50% respondents struggle to cancel subscriptions due to deliberately hidden or missing cancellation options (Subscription Trap Dark Pattern)
• 24% have been charged despite cancelling the OTT subscription (SAAS Billing Dark Pattern) 
• 53% were unaware that, despite buying a paid subscription, they’d have to pay extra to rent movies/shows (Bait and Switch Dark Pattern)
• 47% respondents complained about having to pay hidden extra charges at the final payment gateway (Drip Pricing Dark Pattern)
• 77% have been forced to take unrelated actions such as entering credit card details, installing another app or accepting changed terms and conditions (Forced Action Dark Pattern)
• 86% consumers couldn't find buttons to decline offers or cancel subscriptions because they were greyed out, smaller and difficult to find compared to the ‘Accept’ or ‘Subscribe’ buttons (Interface Interference Dark Pattern)

As per the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN), 76% of apps and websites all over the world use at least one dark pattern, and 67% use more than one. 

Additionally, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) of India identified 13 varieties of dark patterns in its prohibitory guidelines issued in November 2023.

LocalCircles analysed Indian OTT platforms against this data and found that nine different dark patterns were validated across the major OTT platforms in the country.

Privacy Zuckering is a dark pattern where users are tricked into sharing more personal information than intended through misleading prompts, confusing consent mechanisms, or default settings that make oversharing easy. Interestingly, it is named after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

As of July 2025, most Indian OTT platforms have not complied with the CCPA’s dark patterns guidelines, often dismissing them as applicable only to e-commerce. Despite a three-month compliance window and government warnings, dark patterns like subscription traps and hidden fees remain widespread.

OTT streaming platforms were supposed to be a user-friendly and ad-free alternative to linear television, but with the addition of ads, hidden charges, and violations of the terms of subscriptions, the platforms may risk losing the customer loyalty that fuelled the meteoric rise of OTT in India.