Basket sneaking: add-ons the customer never chose
A product or charge that appears in the journey without the customer choosing it.
What it is
Basket sneaking is when something, such as an insurance cover or a service fee, is added to what the customer is buying without the customer choosing it. It is on RBI's illustrative list of dark patterns and in the consumer authority's 2023 guidelines.
What it looks like
On a fictional lender's offer screen, a line reads “Add Loan Shield cover for ₹4,999, included in your loan amount”, with its box already ticked. The customer never asked for it, the cost is folded into the loan, and removing it takes a step many customers will not notice.
Why it matters
The customer ends up borrowing, and paying interest on, a product they did not choose. Press coverage of the RBI directions says that selling a product without explicit consent, and compulsory bundling, are treated as mis-selling, with a refund where mis-selling is established.
How to avoid it
- Make every add-on optional, switched off by default, and priced separately.
- Do not fold an add-on's cost into the loan amount unless the customer has clearly chosen it.
- End the journey with a summary that lists exactly what the customer chose, in their own words.
- Never make approval depend on buying a third-party product.
How it is tested
Whether an item was chosen or sneaked in can only be judged by following the journey, so this check belongs to a baseline audit, not the one-page snapshot. The pre-ticked box that often goes with it can be detected on a single page: see the guide on pre-ticked consent.
Keep reading
- Pre-ticked consent boxes: why consent should start at No
- Drip pricing in a loan journey
- RBI's dark-pattern rules from 1 January 2027: a checklist
Sources
- Moneylife: RBI cracks down on mis-selling, barring forced bundling and dark patterns
- Basis Point Insight: RBI bars mis-selling by banks, trains gun on dark patterns
This guide is general information, not legal advice, and not an opinion on any institution's position. Requirements change: check the official RBI text for your entity category before relying on anything here.