The amendment says every e-commerce entity must follow the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023, conduct a yearly self-audit, and display a certificate. The public page has two segments: dark patterns first, then best practices. It is the store’s own declaration, generated with ecompliance, not a government certificate.
A PDF in a drawer does not meet a duty to display the certificate prominently. The badge sits where shoppers already are, and a click opens the rows behind it: what was checked, on which page, and when.
The page says how many checks are passing and which are still open. It does not say “verified compliant”. A stale read or an open critical check changes the mark. It cannot be frozen on a clean result.
Dark-pattern review is yearly. Price, grievance, and disclosure checks change faster. The same page holds the latest read and the store’s signed yearly declaration, once signing is switched on. Until then, the page shows the read and does not pretend a signature exists.
The free check covers the pages a shopper can open without an account: home, policies, contact, and a sample of products. Each row names the rule, the page, and the time.
Checkout, listing coverage, 30-day price history, and the complaint desk are not in the free check. After install they appear on the same page, marked as a deep scan.
The store adds a small block. It links to the live check page and shows the count of checks passing, plus the date of the last read.
The officer named by the store signs the dark-pattern self-audit. We prepare the file and display it. We do not sign it for them, and we do not call it a government certificate.
