Exposing India's systematically legalized scams

On March 11, 2026, a significant debate erupted in the Rajya Sabha that highlighted the ‘hidden taxes’ of digital India. Member of Parliament Raghav Chadha characterized the Telecom industry's standard 28-day validity cycle as a ‘scam’ and a ‘loot’, pointing out a mathematical sleight of hand: by shaving two days off every month, companies effectively extract a 13th month of payment from consumers every year.

Nevertheless, this 13th month tax is merely the tip of a much larger iceberg. From ‘basket sneaking’ on e-commerce sites to ‘forced seat selection’ during web check-ins, Indian citizens are increasingly trapped in a web of ‘Dark Patterns’, which are deceptive design practices intended to manipulate user behavior. While these tactics often occupy a legal grey area, the Department of Consumer Affairs has recently intensified its crackdown, classifying 13 specific behaviours as ‘unfair trade practices’.

When our digital and physical lives become inseparable, understanding these structural deceptions is about reclaiming consumer autonomy in an era of hidden exploitations.

In this article, we will not only revisit the specifics of that Rajya Sabha debate but also expand our perspectives to take a look at a dozen other systemic scams embedded in our daily lives. And we will not only take a look at the problems but also at their solutions and the tools we have in our periphery which we can access to reclaim our digital democracy.

Let's begin.

THE AGE OF THE PASSIVE SCAM

Source:Hartono Creative Studio on Unsplash.com

What you pay for your mobile every month, is just your prepaid plan right? But does it ever cross the mind that it could be an elite theft too?

For years, the Indian consumer has been conditioned to accept the ‘28-day month’ as a standard industry quirk. We adjust, recharge and then move on. But as highlighted in the recent ‘March 2026 Rajya Sabha session’, this is not a quirk, instead a structural calculated extraction. When a monthly plan lasts only 28 days, two or three days aren't just being lost, but we are being forced into a 13th recharge every single year.

We are living in an era where the nature of deception has evolved. We have now entered the age of the ‘Passive Scam’. Unlike traditional fraud, where a masked criminal tricks us into clicking a suspicious link or sharing an OTP, a passive scam is built into the very architecture of the services we trust.

Why are traditional scams easier to spot?

For one, the intent is clear. In a traditional scam like a phishing scam, the goal is to empty our account in one go. The theft is loud, immediate and obvious.

And another reason is that the perpetrator is an outsider. We know the scammer is a criminal. This makes it easier for the brain to categorize the event as a ‘crime’ and seek help.

Why are structural scams much more dangerous?

Structural or passive scams are far more insidious because:

They are institutionalized. The ‘thief’ here is often a multi-billion dollar corporation with a customer support wing and a marketing budget.
They are Granular. These scams don't take ₹50,000 at once unlike traditional scams. Instead they take ₹15 from 100 million people. This is ‘micro-looting’, it's too small for an individual to sue over, but large enough to build corporate empires.
Because everyone is paying for that 13th month, or that ‘convenience fee’, we stop seeing it as an anomaly. It becomes normalised.

These practices are now formally recognized by the ‘Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA)’ as ‘Dark Patterns’. They are designs specifically engineered to subvert consumer autonomy. Whether it's ‘Basket Sneaking’ which means adding items to your cart without permission or ‘Drip Pricing’, meaning revealing the true cost only at the final checkout, the goal is the same: to take more of your money than you intentionally agreed to give.

THE TELECOM VALIDITY TRAP

The 13th Month Tax

Most prepaid plans in India are sold as ‘Monthly’, but they have a validity of 28 days. On the surface, 2 days might seem insignificant, but the cumulative effect is a massive financial windfall for telecom giants at our expense.

Let's look at the calculation properly.

A calendar year generally has 365 days.

The monthly plan: 365÷28= 13.03.

By using a 28 day cycle instead of a 30 day one, telecom companies force you to recharge 13 times a year instead of 12.

If the plan presumably costs ₹299, we are paying an extra ₹299 every year, which is the ‘hidden tax’ that millions of Indians pay without realizing they have been nudged into it.

The Incoming Call Hostage Situation

In March 2026, Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha raised a critical point. He asked why are incoming calls and SMS blocked immediately when a plan expires?

For over 90% of India's 125 crore mobile users who are on prepaid, our phone number is our digital identity.

No SMS = No OTP. If the validity expires, we cannot receive bank OTPs, login to government portals (Aadhar/DigiLocker), or even book a cab.

By blocking incoming calls, companies leave users disconnected from their families during emergencies, effectively holding their connectivity hostage until the next payment is made.

The ‘30-Day Plan’ Hide & Seek

While TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) has mandated that every operator must offer at least one plan with a full 30-day validity, these plans are buried deep in the ‘Other’ or ‘Top-up’ sections of mobile apps. They are rarely advertised and often lack the lucrative data ‘combos’ found in the 28-day versions, making them look less attractive to the average user.

SIM Deactivation

The final part of the trap is the threat of number deactivation. Under TRAI regulations, a number cannot be deactivated before 90 days of non usage. However, many users receive threatening calls and SMS such as “your SIM will be deactivated tomorrow” much earlier to pressure them into an immediate recharge.

BANKING & FINTECH

If the telecom trap is about the time we lose, the Banking & Fintech sector is about the ‘silent leaks’, implying the thousands of small, automated deductions that drain the savings of the Indian middle class under the guise of service fees.

Minimum Balance Charges

The most ironic scam is Indian banking is being charged for ‘not’ having enough money. In March 2026, data presented in Parliament revealed that Indian banks collected over ₹19,000 crore in penalties from account holders for failing to maintain a Minimum Average Balance (MAB).

While Public Sector Banks like SBI have waived these charges, many private banks still levy steep fines, often upto ₹600 per month.

Most citizens are unaware that they are legally entitled to a ‘Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account’ (BSBDA), which has zero minimum balance requirements by RBI mandate. Banks rarely ‘sell’ this because they aren't profitable.

SMS and Alert Fees

Have you ever noticed a random deduction of ₹15 to ₹20 plus GST every quarter? That is the ‘SMS Alert Fee’.

While the RBI mandates that banks must alert users for transactions, it doesn't mandate that they must charge for it. In an era where a WhatsApp message or an app notification costs a fraction of a paisa, charging ₹60-₹80 annually per customer is a massive revenue stream built on an outdated technology.

Fintech & ‘The Processing Fee’ Illusion

Digital lending apps often advertise ‘0% Interest’ or ‘Instant Credit’, but the real cost is hidden in the ‘Front-end Loading’.

The Hidden Cut: A loan of ₹10,000 might come with a ‘processing fee’ of ₹1,000 and insurance of ₹200. You only receive ₹8,800 but pay interest on the full ₹10,000.
As per the 2025-26 ‘RBI Digital Lending Guidelines’, lenders must now provide a ‘Key Fact Statement’ (KFS). If an app doesn't show the ‘Annual Percentage Rate’ (APR), which includes all hidden fees, it's likely an illegal or non-compliant platform.

The Credit Card ‘Minimum Due’ Trap

Credit card statements prominently highlight the ‘Minimum Amount Due’ (usually 5%) while burying the ‘Total Amount Due’.

If you only pay the minimum, the remaining 95% incurs an interest rate of 36% to 48% per annum. Even worse, any new purchases made are immediately charged interest from day one, as we have lost our interest free grace period.

The RBI now requires banks to show a clear ‘detailed fee breakup’ in statements, distinguishing between principal reduction and interest.

E-COMMERCE & DARK PATTERNS

Fake Urgency

Have you ever seen a flickering red timer saying ‘Deal ends at 2:45’ or a warning that ‘only 2 items left in stock’?

Well, then you have been a victim of digital pickpocket.

Often, these timers are hard coded to reset every time you refresh the page. This is a dark pattern known as ‘false urgency’. It's designed to trigger our fight or flight response, bypassing our rational brain that would otherwise compare prices or check reviews.

In 2026, the ‘Central Consumer Protection Authority’ (CCPA) explicitly prohibited this. If a timer doesn't lead to a genuine price change or stock depletion, it is a legal violation.

Basket Sneaking

This is a classic passive scam where an extra item is added to our cart without our consent. For example, a ₹10 donation to charity, a ₹49 handling fee, or even a magazine subscription that was pre selected could be added.

Instead of asking us to choose to add these, they force us to manually ‘remove’ them. Companies bank on the fact that 30% of users are in a hurry and won't notice the ₹20-₹50 increase in their total bill.

Drip Pricing

Imagine you see a pair of shoes online for ₹999. You spend 15 minutes selecting the size and colour. But by the time you reach the final payment page, the price is ₹1,350.

Here is the breakdown of that—

Base price: ₹999
Convenience fee: ₹150
GST: ₹102

This is called ‘Drip Pricing’. By revealing the true cost only at the very last second, platforms exploit ‘Commitment Bias’. ‘Commitment Bias’ is the condition where you have already invested so much time that you would rather pay the extra ₹300 than start the search over again. This is especially common in food delivery applications such as Swiggy, Zomato, and quick delivery applications such as Blinkit, JioMart, etc.

Confirm Shaming

Have you ever tried to decline an extra protection plan or a pro membership? And came across a button saying “No, I prefer to pay full price” or “No, I don't care about my safety”.

This is known as ‘Confirm Shaming’. It is a deceptive UI/UX pattern that uses guilt or shame to manipulate into choosing one option by making the alternative sound wrong or embarrassing or shameful. It is a form of emotional manipulation used in digital marketing to discourage canceling services or declining offers. It nudges us into a choice that benefits the company. It could be condemned as a digital form of bullying that subverts our autonomy.

The ‘Roach Motel’

Signing up for a premium or vip membership takes exactly one click. However, canceling it often involves:

Finding a hidden ‘settings’ menu.
Clicking through multiple ‘Are you sure?’ Screens
Occasionally even being forced to call a customer service number which more often than not remains ‘busy’ or ‘unreachable’ or in simpler words, inaccessible.

The 2026 ‘CCPA Self-Audit Advisory’ has directed platforms to ensure that “unsubscribing must be as easy as subscribing”.

THE LIFESTYLE & TRAVEL ‘MARKUPS’

Moving from the digital world to the physical world of travel, we encounter the most literal form of ‘pay-to-play’ scam. The aviation sector has pioneered the art of ‘Unbundling’, where a single ticket price is broken down into dozens of micro-charges, many of which are now being challenged by the government.

The ‘Free’ Web Check-In Myth

For years, airlines have nudged passengers toward mandatory web check-ins to ‘save time’. However, the trap lies in the seat selection.

During web check-in, users often find that every available seat on the map has a price tag from ₹200 to ₹2,000. The ‘skip’ or ‘auto-assign’ button is frequently hidden in tiny text or a different colour, leading passengers to believe that they must pay for a seat to complete their check-in.

Following a surge in complaints and Parliamentary pressure, the ‘Ministry of Civil Aviation’ issued a landmark on March 18, 2026. Airlines are now mandated to keep at least 60% of seats free of charge for selection. If an airline says that “only paid seats are left”, they may be in violation of this 60% quota.

The ‘Family Separation’ Tax

One of the most emotionally manipulative strategies was the separation of families. Algorithms would often assign a husband, wife, and child to different rows despite the plane being half empty, then force them into paying for ‘Preferential Seating’ just to sit together.

As of March 2026, the DGCA has directed that passengers on the same PNR (booking reference) must be seated together, preferably in adjacent seats, without additional charges, especially when traveling with children.

The ‘Convenience Fee’ per Passenger

When we book a ticket, we are often charged a convenience fee, usually from ₹300-₹400.

This fee is often applied per passenger, per sector, rather than per transaction. If a family of four books a round trip, they might pay ₹3,200 in ‘convenience’ just for the privilege of using a credit card, a cost that bears no relation to the actual processing expense.

The Airport ‘Counter Fee’

Some low cost carriers attempted to charge ₹200-₹500 simply to issue a boarding pass at the airport counter.

The ‘Ministry of Civil Aviation’ has repeatedly clarified that airlines cannot charge additional fees for issuing boarding passes at the counter, as this is a fundamental part of the ‘tariff’ already paid by the passenger.

The Railway ‘Trade Secret’

In early 2026, investigations revealed that for certain ‘Suvidha’ and ‘Special’ trains, the dynamic fare can escalate upto 300% of the base fare. When citizens used the RTI Act to ask how these fares are calculated, the Railways officially labeled the formula a ‘Trade Secret’.

The Tatkal Bot War: Despite the deactivation of over 2.5 crore suspicious IDs in late 2025, genuine passengers still struggle to book tickets in the 60 second window before bots hoard them. This creates an ‘artificial scarcity scam’, forcing us to pay ‘Premium Tatkal’ rates, often double the price for the same seat.

As of January 2026, IRCTC's new policy finally allows passengers to reschedule a confirmed ticket to a different date without paying cancellation fees, provided there is seat availability.

The Hotel ‘Check-In’ Time Theft

Suppose we arrive at a hotel at 10:00 PM and check out at 9:00 AM the next day.

We essentially paid for a ‘full day’, but the hotel quietly stole 13 hours of our stay. Most Indian hotels to this day still follow a rigid 12 PM to 11 AM cycle. We pay 100% of the tariff for less than 50% of the usable time. While globally common, in the Indian context, this has been criticized as a violation of the ‘Consumer Protection Act, 2019’, which demands ‘fairness and transparency’ in service delivery.

Here, I would advise my readers to always look for ‘24-hour check-in’ filters on booking apps, though these are often hidden to protect hotel margins.

Bus Aggregators

Booking a bus via applications like RedBus or Amazon has introduced new layers of ‘Drip Pricing’.

A small checkbox for ₹15-₹20 is often pre-selected for ‘Trip Insurance’ or ‘Reschedule Protection’. Many users don't realise that under ‘CCPA Dark Pattern’ guidelines, these pre-checked boxes are illegal.

Often, the price shown on the search results page excludes the 5% GST on non-AC or 18% GST on AC services, which only ‘drips’ onto the total at the very last payment screen.

The Restaurant ‘Service Charge’ Resurgence

Despite the CCPA’s 2022 ban and subsequent court rulings in 2025-26, many high end restaurants in tourist hubs (Goa, Delhi, Mumbai) still add a 5-10% ‘Service Charge’ to the bill.

It is legally optional. If a restaurant adds it by default, it is a ‘Dark Pattern’ called ‘Action Fatigue’, making it embarrassing or difficult for the customer to ask for its removal. We have the full legal right to demand a fresh bill without this charge.

EDUCATION & HEALTHCARE

This sector, as opposed to the previous ones dealing with our wallets and leisure, deals with our health and our future. In education and healthcare, the ‘scams’ are the most difficult to challenge.

The ‘Scholarship’ Trap & Ed-Tech Manipulation

Many private coaching institutes and Ed-Tech platforms use a ‘Diagnostic Test’ or ‘National Scholarship Exam’ as a sophisticated lead generation tool.

We are told our child scored in the top 5% and is eligible for a 70% scholarship. In reality, almost every participant receives the same offer. The discounted price is actually the standard market rate, and the scholarship is a psychological anchor to make us feel we are losing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

During the high pressure sales pitch, parents are often asked to sign simple forms for monthly payments. These are frequently ‘hidden loan agreements’ with third-party NBFCs. Even if we want to cancel the course after a month, we are legally bound to pay the full loan amount to the bank.

The CCPA has recently cracked down on coaching centers for misleading advertisements regarding toppers and ‘guaranteed’ results, but the ‘scholarship’ bait-and-switch remains a common ‘passive scam’.

The Gatekeeping Scam

Perhaps one of the most disgusting scams according to me is the practice of ‘answer script gatekeeping’, especially in the Indian academic landscape, where a single mark can determine a career. And it is also one of the most persistent and profitable passive scams run by public and private examining bodies alike.

For years, universities and boards like CBSE, DU, and ICAI have treated our evaluated answer scripts as their private intellectual property. They created a two-tier system: if we want to see how we were marked, we must pay an exorbitant ‘University fee’, often ranging from ₹500 to ₹1000 per paper.

If a student wants to verify four papers, they might have to shell out an estimated ₹4,000. This creates a ‘Pay-for-Transparency’ model where only the wealthy can afford to challenge potential marking errors.

To top it off, boards often bundle the ‘viewing’ with a ‘re-evaluation fee’. We are forced to pay for a service (re-grading) justg to access a document which is our script, that we have already paid to write.

The most significant weapon against this is the landmark Supreme Court judgment in ‘CBSE vs Aditya Bandyopadhyay (2011)’. The court ruled that an evaluated answer book is ‘information’ under the RTI Act, and a student has a fundamental right to inspect it.

Under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the fee to see your papers is a flat ₹10 for the application, plus a nominal ₹2 per page for the photocopy.

Despite this ruling, many universities still hide the RTI option on their websites, prominently displaying their ‘Standard Fee’ of ₹750 instead. They rely on ‘Information Asymmetry’, the hope that we don't know our rights.

Following the ‘ICSI vs. Paras Jain’ case, professional bodies like ICAI have been directed to provide certified copies at RTI rates. As of early 2026, many now provide free PDF copies via the RTI portal once the ₹10 application is processed.

The ‘Consumables’ Maze in Healthcare

Source: National Cancer Institute on Unsplash.com

In many private hospitals, the actual medical procedure is only a fraction of the bill. The real loot happens in the ‘Consumables’ and ‘Miscellaneous’ sections.

Hospitals are legally barred from charging above the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) for medicines. To bypass this, they often use ‘in-house’ brands for basic items like gloves, syringes, and gauzes, priced at 5x to 10x the market rate.

One might be billed for 20 pairs of gloves for a minor 10 minute dressing change, or a ‘nursing fee’ and ‘bedside monitoring fee’ that were already supposed to be part of the room rent.

To combat this, the ‘Bureau of Indian Standards (IBS)’ has introduced a ‘Mandatory Standardized Billing Format’. Hospitals must now provide an itemized breakdown including the name, quantity, and batch number of every single consumable used. If the bill simply says ‘Consumables: ₹15,000,” it is now a direct violation of these transparency rules.

‘Upcoding’ and ‘Unbundling’ in Surgery

This happens when a routine consultation by a junior doctor is billed as a ‘Specialist Visit’, or a simple ward stay is coded as ‘Observation in High Dependency Unit (HDU)’ to double the room rent.

Instead of a single ‘Surgical Package’, hospitals might bill separately for the surgery, the ‘Operation Theatre (OT) Lights’, the ‘Surgical Tray Preparation’, and even ‘Waste Disposal’. This is a classic dark pattern designed to inflate the total without changing the advertised price of the surgery.

THE LEGAL SHIELD

Source: Giammarco Boscaro on Unsplash.com

In the battle against passive scams, our most powerful weapon is our own smartphones. India's consumer protection laws have undergone a digital revolution between 2024 and 2026, making it possible to challenge multi billion dollar corporations.

Pre-Litigation First Responder: National Consumer Helpline (1915)

Before filing a formal court case, every citizen should use the ‘National Consumer Helpline (NCH)’. It acts as an ‘alternate dispute redressal’ mechanism that resolves nearly 90% of grievances without a judge.

To reach, call 1915 (8 AM to 8 PM) or WhatsApp 8800001915.

The NCH has partnered with thousands of ‘Convergence Companies’, including major telecom and e-commerce brands. When we lodge a ‘docket’ here, the company is legally notified and typically offers a resolution within 48 days to avoid the heavy fines of a formal consumer court.

As of 2025-26, the NCH uses AI driven analysis to categorize ‘Dark Patterns’, making it easier to flag ‘Hidden Fees’ or ‘Subscription Traps’ specifically.

E-Daakhil Portal

If the company refuses to budge, we can elevate our grievance to a Consumer Commission via the ‘E-Daakhil’ portal.

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019, explicitly allows consumers to represent themselves. We do not need to hire an advocate or pay ‘black coat fees’ for claims of any size.

We can file a case in the Commission where we live, not where the company's head office is located.

Upto ₹5 lakhs, there are zero filing fees. From ₹5 lakhs to ₹10 lakhs, there is a nominal fee of approximately ₹200.

Step-by-step guide to filing an e-daakhil case

Step 1: Register on edaakhil.nic.in using your Adhaar or ID proof.

Step 2: Upload a basic list of dates, such as when you bought the item, when the scam happened, etc., and the contact details of the company (Opposite Party).

Step 3: Upload PDFs of your invoices, screenshots of the ‘Dark Pattern’, eg: the countdown timer of the pre-checked box, and your previous communication with their customer care.

Step 4: You will need a simple notarized affidavit (a ₹10-₹50 stamp paper) stating that the facts in your complaint are true.

Step 5: Once you submit and verify via OTP, a unique Case Number is generated. You can track your hearings online and even attend them via video conferencing.

Below are some more tools provided for the aid of consumers.

THE CITIZEN'S TOOLKIT

Jagriti Dashboard: A 2026 Initiative for checking the ‘safety scores’ of online platforms before you shop.
BIS Hospital Billing Standard (IS 19493:2025): The official guideline for transparent medical billing in India. (docthub.com/BIS-rules)
National Consumer Helpline (NCH): For reporting Ed-Tech loan traps and hospital overcharging. (consumerhelpline.gov.in)
Ministry of Education Advisory on Ed-Tech: Guidelines for parents to avoid financial traps. (pib.gov.in/EdTechAdvisory)
RailMadad: Portals for real time grievances regarding travel service failures. (railmadad.indianrailways.gov.in)
IRCTC Official Transaction Charges: Transparency on what you're being charged for each payment mode. (contents.irctc.co.in)
AirSewa Portal: The government's dedicated platform for airline related grievances. (airsewa.gov.in)
Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) Twitter/X: For real time updates on passenger rights. (x.com/MoCA_Gol)
DGCA Circular on Unbundled Services: The official rules on what airlines can and cannot charge for. (dgca.gov.in)
ASCI (Advertising Standards Council of India): Reporting misleading digital ads and influencer ‘bait and switch tactics’. (ascionline.in)
Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA)- Dark Patterns: A dedicated portal for understanding and reporting digital manipulation. (consumeraffairs.nic.in)
Sachet Portal: An RBI-led platform to report illegal lending apps and financial scams. (sachet.rbi.org.in)
RBI ‘Common Man’ Portal: The official source for your rights regarding bank charges and BSBDA accounts. (rbi.org.in/commonman)
TRAI Consumer FAQ on Tariffs: Official rules on plan transparency. (trai.gov.in)

All the scams we have deconstructed, all rest upon a single corporate assumption, that we are too busy or too uninformed to notice. By normalizing these micro loots, industries have effectively levied an invisible tax on the Indian middle class. They bank on the fact that while we might fight over a ₹10,000 fraud, we will likely ignore a ₹15 handling fee. But when 1.4 billion people ignore ₹15, it builds empires on the foundation of collective apathy.

The tide, nonetheless, is turning. The March 2026 Rajya Sabha debate wasn't just about telecom; it was a prologue to a signal that the ‘Age of Passive Scam’ is facing a legislative reckoning. With the ‘Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA)’ now actively identifying 13 distinct ‘Dark Patterns’ and the ‘E-Daakhil’ portal making the legal system accessible from a smartphone, the power dynamic has shifted back to the individual.

True consumer empowerment in India starts at our screen. It begins when we uncheck that pre-selected donation box, when we file an RTI for our marks instead of paying a university service fee, and when we demand a 30-day recharge plan as a digital right.

The next time you see a ‘convenience fee’ or a ‘28-day month’, remember that it's a business practice, but it's also a choice, it's also our autonomy. And as citizens of digital democracy, we finally have the tools to choose differently.

REFERENCES

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