New Delhi, July 14 -- As streaming platforms gain ground across Indian households, a new survey reveals a troubling undercurrent that manipulative design practices, or "dark patterns," are now rampant across major OTT (over-the-top) services.

According to a wide-ranging study by community platform LocalCircles, Indian consumers are increasingly falling prey to deceptive subscription tactics, hidden charges, forced app installs, and unexpected ad insertions on OTT platforms. These practices go against the spirit of fair digital services and consumer rights.

The findings are based on over 95,000 responses from users in 353 districts, and come at a time when the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has issued strong guidelines agai...