Navigating Consumer Challenges in the Marketplace

Every time you shop – whether you’re scrolling through a marketplace app at midnight or walking into a store – you’re making decisions that carry risk. India’s consumer market is one of the largest and fastest-growing in the world, expected to become the third-largest consumer market by 2026. But with scale comes complexity. Consumers today face a growing set of challenges – from being overwhelmed by too many options to being defrauded online. Understanding these problems is the first step toward demanding better from the marketplace.

The problem of too many choices
Lack of consumer education and information
The right to information as a consumer right
E-commerce: convenience that comes with its own risks
Dark patterns: the digital marketplace’s hidden manipulation
Fraud and product counterfeiting
Difficulty in verifying product claims
Misleading advertisements
Dissatisfaction with after-sales service
What needs to change

The problem of too many choices

Walk into any supermarket and try to buy a simple tube of toothpaste. You’ll find over a dozen variants from multiple brands – whitening, sensitivity, herbal, charcoal, gel, paste. This is brand proliferation, and while competition is generally good for consumers, an excess of options creates what is often called “choice overload.” When a buyer cannot meaningfully differentiate between products, decision-making becomes stressful and often arbitrary. The result? Buyers either default to familiar brands (even when better options exist) or make impulsive decisions based on packaging and price alone – not actual product merit.

In India’s diverse market, this problem is compounded by the fact that many consumers, particularly in semi-urban and rural areas, lack the product literacy to evaluate competing claims. India’s consumer market is structurally complex, with vast differences in income levels, cultural preferences, and consumption patterns across regions. A buyer in a Tier-2 town and a buyer in Mumbai may face entirely different challenges, but both can fall prey to marketing that prioritises brand image over substance.

Lack of consumer education and information

One of the most persistent and foundational consumer problems in India is the gap in awareness and education. Unscrupulous sellers have historically taken advantage of consumer ignorance – overcharging, underweighting, selling adulterated goods, and using deceptive advertisements – precisely because many consumers don’t know their rights or how to enforce them.

Research consistently shows that consumer rights awareness varies significantly across demographic groups. A study involving 190 Indian consumers found that while many had moderate knowledge of their rights, urban and more educated consumers consistently showed better awareness than their rural counterparts. This disparity matters because it directly affects who gets exploited and who doesn’t. A consumer who doesn’t know that the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 entitles them to redress for defective goods or deficient services is far less likely to seek justice.

The right to information as a consumer right

India’s consumer protection framework explicitly recognises the right to be informed – consumers are entitled to know the quality, quantity, price, purity, and standards of goods before purchasing. Yet in practice, product labels are often confusing, advertisements exaggerate benefits, and sellers may withhold material facts. Salespeople, especially in electronics or insurance, are sometimes trained to push products rather than inform customers – leaving buyers with purchases they didn’t fully understand and later regret.

E-commerce: convenience that comes with its own risks

India’s e-commerce sector has grown at a remarkable pace, and with it, a new category of consumer problems has emerged. Customers now regularly deal with misrepresented products, delayed deliveries, and return policy disputes. When you buy a product online, you rely entirely on images, descriptions, and seller ratings – none of which are always reliable.

Delivery delays are a common grievance. Sellers may promise delivery within two days, but fulfilment often depends on logistics chains that are outside the platform’s direct control. When a product doesn’t arrive on time – or doesn’t arrive at all – getting a refund can become its own ordeal. A consumer in Chennai, for instance, received a ₹12,000 refund for non-delivery only after filing a complaint through the National Consumer Helpline. That outcome required effort and persistence most consumers don’t know they need to deploy.

Dark patterns: the digital marketplace’s hidden manipulation

Beyond delivery issues, e-commerce platforms have been found deploying what are called “dark patterns” – deceptive interface designs that manipulate consumer decisions. The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) identified 13 specific dark patterns in e-commerce, including false urgency (fake countdown timers), basket sneaking (adding unrequested items to a cart), subscription traps, and drip pricing (revealing extra charges only at checkout). These aren’t accidents – they’re deliberate design choices intended to extract more money from unsuspecting consumers. The CCPA has issued notices to platforms found violating its 2023 Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, signalling that regulatory scrutiny is increasing.

Fraud and product counterfeiting

Consumer fraud takes many forms in India – from fake websites mimicking established brands, to counterfeit goods that look identical to the original. Counterfeit goods flood the market across categories from clothing to medicines, and the consequences are not just financial. A fake drug or a substandard electrical appliance can cause genuine physical harm. The problem is especially acute online, where the barrier to setting up a fraudulent seller profile is low and verification mechanisms are inconsistent.

Financial fraud is another growing concern. ATM fraud, credit card skimming, and phishing scams that impersonate e-commerce platforms or payment gateways affect millions of Indian consumers annually. With digital payments reaching over 14,726 crore transactions in FY24, the volume of digital commerce also expands the attack surface for fraud. Many victims don’t report such incidents because they don’t know where to go, or assume the process will be too complicated.

Difficulty in verifying product claims

Walk past any supermarket shelf and you’ll see products marked “natural,” “clinically proven,” “zero sugar,” or “dermatologist tested.” These claims are rarely accompanied by accessible evidence, and most consumers have no easy way to verify them. This is particularly problematic in categories like health supplements, cosmetics, and packaged food – sectors where misleading claims can affect buyer health and safety.

India’s regulatory framework has been working to address this. The CCPA enacted the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Greenwashing and Misleading Environmental Claims in October 2024, mandating greater transparency in environmental product claims. Similarly, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has introduced frameworks for authentic online consumer reviews. But enforcement remains a challenge, and until consumers can easily access and interpret verified product information, they remain vulnerable to misleading marketing.

Misleading advertisements

Advertising is perhaps the most visible form of consumer manipulation. Misleading advertising leads consumers to make uninformed purchasing decisions – buying into promises that products can’t keep. In 2024, the CCPA issued guidelines specifically targeting coaching institutes, which had been advertising false success rates and exaggerated placement claims to attract students and parents. A brand was also fined ₹2 lakh by the CCPA for false advertisements in 2025. These actions show that misleading claims have legal consequences – but the regulatory machinery can only act after harm has already been done.

Dissatisfaction with after-sales service

A product purchase doesn’t end at checkout. What happens after – warranty claims, repairs, returns, customer support – is equally part of the consumer experience, and this is where many businesses fall short. Consumers frequently report that after-sales service is difficult to access, slow to respond, and sometimes dismissive of valid complaints. A phone manufacturer may make the sale seamlessly but route warranty requests through call centres with long wait times and poorly trained staff who push customers toward paid repairs even for defects covered under warranty.

In India, consumers who are not informed of their rights are far less likely to assert them – meaning poor after-sales service is often tolerated simply because buyers don’t realise they have a legal basis for complaint. The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 provides clear remedies for “deficiency in services,” but filing a formal complaint requires awareness, documentation, and persistence that many consumers lack.

What needs to change

The problems consumers face are not isolated – they connect. A lack of education makes fraud easier. Unverifiable product claims enable misleading advertising. Weak after-sales service persists because consumers don’t complain. Addressing these issues requires action on multiple fronts simultaneously.

On the regulatory side, consumer protection laws must evolve continuously to address emerging challenges, backed by consistent enforcement. The CCPA and the three-tier Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission structure under the 2019 Act are important mechanisms – but their impact depends on consumers actually knowing these systems exist and how to use them. The National Consumer Helpline (toll-free: 1800-11-4000 or 1915) and the e-Daakhil portal for filing complaints are accessible entry points that remain underutilised.

On the business side, transparent product labelling, honest advertising, responsive after-sales support, and fair return policies are not just ethical obligations – they are increasingly legal ones. PwC’s Voice of the Consumer Survey 2024 found that nearly 80% of Indian consumers prioritise data protection, while also expecting personalised, trustworthy brand experiences. Trust, once lost, is difficult to rebuild – and consumer dissatisfaction increasingly finds a public outlet through social media and review platforms.

Consumer education sits at the heart of all of this. An aware consumer is better protected from fraud, makes more informed purchasing decisions, and is more likely to seek redress when wronged. The government’s “Jago Grahak Jago” campaign and the inclusion of consumer awareness in school curricula are steps in the right direction – but the gap between legal protections on paper and consumer awareness in practice remains wide.

What do you think? With digital commerce growing and consumer laws strengthening, do you think Indian consumers are better protected today than they were a decade ago – or do structural gaps in awareness and enforcement still leave most buyers vulnerable? And given that after-sales service is often where trust breaks down, should businesses face stricter legal accountability for post-purchase deficiencies?

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Table of Contents

The problem of too many choices 🔗

Lack of consumer education and information 🔗

The right to information as a consumer right 🔗

E-commerce: convenience that comes with its own risks 🔗

Dark patterns: the digital marketplace’s hidden manipulation 🔗

Fraud and product counterfeiting 🔗

Difficulty in verifying product claims 🔗

Misleading advertisements 🔗

Dissatisfaction with after-sales service 🔗

What needs to change 🔗