The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has slapped a significant ₹2 lakh fine on Digital Age Retail Pvt Ltd, widely known as FirstCry, for misleading advertisements and unfair trade practices. This action comes after an official statement on Friday, September 26, 2025, confirmed the penalty imposed under Sections 10, 20, and 21 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
The order against FirstCry stems from its practice of displaying products with a banner stating, “MRP inclusive of all taxes.” However, during the final checkout process on its e-commerce platform, www.firstcry.com, an additional Goods and Services Tax (GST) was levied on the discounted price. This deceptive pricing strategy created a false impression of higher discounts and misled consumers about the actual amount they would pay.
An investigation, leveraging data from the National Consumer Helpline (NCH), revealed that this practice significantly diminished the advertised benefits for consumers. For instance, products promoted with a 27% discount were effectively sold at a reduced discount of only 18.2% once the GST was applied separately.
The CCPA concluded that these actions constituted deceptive pricing and misleading advertisements under Section 2(28), along with unfair trade practices under Section 2(47) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. The authority emphasized that disclaimers such as “additional charges may apply” or “GST and Add’l charges may apply on discounted price” do not supersede the legal requirement that the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) must inherently include all taxes.
Furthermore, the CCPA identified FirstCry’s practice of representing prices as tax-inclusive before adding GST at checkout as ‘drip pricing,’ classifying it as a ‘dark pattern’ under the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023. Following the CCPA’s intervention, FirstCry has since updated its platform to ensure greater transparency in how prices are displayed across its website and mobile application.