Stakeholders explore actionable measures to promote inclusivity across financial institutions (See 'Corp Brief') SEBI - Writ court's intervention not needed in respect of a preliminary SCN proposing to conduct an inquiry & giving opportunity to petitioner to present objections: HC (See 'Legal Desk') EPFO urges establishments to utilize Employees' Enrolment Campaign, 2026 (See 'Corp Brief') SEBI - Regulator cannot substitute its own commercial judgment for business decision of a company in relation to funding its wholly owned subsidiary: SAT (See 'Legal Desk') MoS delivers inaugural address at BRICS Science Ministerial Meet at Chennai (See 'Corp Brief') SEBI - Noticee cannot be held liable for carrying out unregistered investment advisory activities or for promising assured returns where evidence does not exist to show that Noticee conducted core advisory activities: SEBI (See 'Legal Desk') Procurement of tyres: CCI imposes penalty on Rekha Agencies and SS Marketing (See 'Corp Brief') Sonowal inaugurates Rs 428 Crore Projects at Paradip Port (See 'Corp Brief') Committee discusses Next Phase of UDAN & strengthening of Pilot Training Ecosystem (See 'Corp Brief') IPR - Trademark registration is liable for cancellation u/s 57(2) of Trade Marks Act if it is made without sufficient cause: HC (See 'Legal Desk') Office of Pr. CCA, Delhi, celebrates National Senior Citizens Day (See 'Corp Brief') 29 FDI Investments worth Rs.4,895 Crore reported under Revised Framework (See 'Corp Brief') Aadhaar App crosses 5 crore Downloads (See 'Corp Brief') SARFAESI - In respect of monies recoverable from a defaulting entity, the dues payable to a bank, being financial creditor, do not take precedence, over dues owed to the EPFO: HC (See 'Legal Desk') CSIR-CRRI and CSIR-AMPRI organise Workshop on Innovative Materials (See 'Corp Brief') DFS organises Workshop to Strengthen Implementation of Reservation Policy (See 'Corp Brief') IBC - Payment or transaction involving company's assets during insolvency moratorium without court approval is illegal: NCLT (See 'Legal Desk') Experts from DGFT, EXIM Bank and Digital Commerce share Practical Insights with MSMEs (See 'Corp Brief') Chhattisgarh emerges as First inland State to initiate Exports of Value-Added Tilapia products (See 'Corp Brief') IBC - Writ remedy cannot be invoked where petitioner does not challenge any order passed by either Tribunal but merely seeks directions relating to listing, constitution of special bench & restraint on pending proceedings - costs of Rs 25000 imposed on petitioner: HC (See 'Legal Desk') Digital Public Infrastructure is a Necessity, not a Luxury: MoS (See 'Corp Brief') IPR - Fundamental test in trade dress passing off action is one of overall impression and similarity, rather than side-by-side comparison of minor differences: HC (See 'Legal Desk') RDI Fund 'Conflict of Interest' policy protected by Stringent Safeguards: MoS (See 'Corp Brief') BRICS Youth Council Meeting and BRICS Youth Summit held successfully in Gandhinagar (See 'Corp Brief') PMLA - Accused has no vested or matter-of-right entitlement to conversion of non-bailable warrant into bailable warrant: HC (See 'Legal Desk') RM to hold bilateral talks with his Japanese counterpart in New Delhi (See 'Corp Brief') IBC - Only crystallised claims as on effective date are payable on pro-rata basis from designated Operational Creditors Settlement Amount: SC (See 'Legal Desk') 'Friends of MY Bharat': A New Global Youth Connect launched (See 'Corp Brief') RDDBFI - Borrowers cannot cherry-pick figures from bank certificates while ignoring standard accounting treatment of interest after NPA classification: SC (See 'Legal Desk') Tete-a-tete around AI in banking sector often begins with algorithms (See CORP EINSICHT)

Print

CCPA imposes penalty of Rs 2 Lakh on Digital Age Retail Pvt. Ltd for misleading ads

Published: Sep 27, 2025

By TIOLCorplaws News Service

NEW DELHI, SEP 27, 2025: THE Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a penalty of Rs.2,00,000/- on M/s Digital Age Retail Pvt. Ltd. (FirstCry) for false and misleading price representations. The order has been passed under Sections 10, 20 and 21 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

CCPA issued order against M/s Digital Age Retail Pvt. Ltd. (FirstCry) for publishing misleading advertisements and engaging in unfair trade practices on its e-commerce platform (www.firstcry.com). The matter arose from a consumer complaint that FirstCry displayed products with the representation "MRP inclusive of all taxes," while at the checkout stage, an additional GST was levied on the discounted price. This created a misleading impression of higher discounts and misled consumers about the final payable amount.

The investigation supported by data from the National Consumer Helpline (NCH), showed that the practice of advertising discounts on the MRP but separately charging GST on the discounted price significantly reduced the benefit to consumers. For example, products advertised with a 27% discount were effectively sold at only an 18.2% discount after GST was applied. Such representations were found to amount to deceptive pricing, misleading advertisements under Section 2(28), and unfair trade practices under Section 2(47) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

It was observed that disclaimers such as "additional charges may apply" or "GST and Add'l charges may apply on discounted price" did not override the statutory requirement that the MRP must be inclusive of all taxes. By representing the price as tax-inclusive and then levying GST at checkout, the company engaged in "drip pricing," a dark pattern under the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023, which misled consumers about the final payable amount and undermined informed decision-making. Such practice also contravened Rule 7(1)(e) of the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, which requires the total price, inclusive of all charges and taxes, to be displayed upfront. The CCPA therefore directed the company to rectify this practice and ensure that both original and discounted prices are shown as inclusive of all taxes, with any additional charges clearly disclosed.

In view of the company's extensive operations and its stature as one of the largest online retailers for maternity, baby, and children's products in India and Asia, the impugned practice was observed to have a significant and widespread impact on consumers. Accordingly, the CCPA has directed the company to ensure that both original and discounted prices are always shown as inclusive of all taxes, and that any additional charges such as shipping or convenience fees are prominently disclosed. It has further directed that the misleading practice, though now discontinued, must never be adopted in the future.

Following CCPA's intervention, the company has rectified its platform to provide more transparency in the display of prices across the company's website and mobile application. Also, a prominent display of the disclaimer 'price inclusive of all taxes' is put across all pages of the Website and mobile application of the Company. The changes are live on the Company's platform and clearly reflect that no GST will be charged on the discounted price and the price displayed after discount across all pages is final price of the product inclusive of all the taxes.

TIOL CORP SEARCH

TIOL GROUP WEBSITES

taxindiaonline
taxindiainternational
tioltube
TKF
TIOLawards
A TIOL Website. Copyright © 2025 TIOLcorplaws.com All rights reserved.