Asia: Consumer Protection

India’s digital payments landscape / ecosystem has grown exponentially and at a pace that regulators struggled to match. The rules governing automatic recurring charges remained scattered across multiple directives issued at different times.

India's Central Consumer Protection Authority has penalized PhysicsWallah Limited Rs. 5 lakh for deploying manipulative interface designs including pre-selected donation checkboxes, emotionally coercive messaging, and forced data collection...

Competition and consumer enforcers across Asia-Pacific are intensifying scrutiny of dark patterns—manipulative online design techniques that lead users to make unintended decisions. This enforcement trend is expanding beyond traditional privacy and consumer protection concerns into competition law territory, with regulators in Singapore, China, Japan, and Australia now treating these practices as potential antitrust violations that can distort markets and harm fair competition.

On 14 May 2026, the Federal Court of Australia (the Court), in a prosecution commenced by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), found that Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd (Coles)...

The Federal Court of Australia has ruled that Coles Supermarkets' 'Down Down' promotional pricing was misleading to consumers, despite the advertised prices being factually accurate. The case examines whether temporary price increases followed by promotional discounts constitute genuine savings, and establishes critical standards for how long a higher price must be maintained before retailers can legitimately advertise it as a discount reference point.

Imagine you are in a restaurant with your family, enjoying the meal. When the bill arrives, it shocks you at how much extra you have been charged for bringing the food to your table.

This is a significant result for registered rights owners and for the law of trade marks in Australia, affirming the protection afforded to registered trade mark holders against concurrent users who cannot demonstrate...

On 31 March 2026, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) published its conclusions paper titled Merchant Card Payments Costs and Surcharging.

For many financial services and credit businesses, holding an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) or Australian Credit Licence is fundamental to operating lawfully in Australia.

On 28 May 2026, the Treasury published stage 1 of its long-awaited package of laws and consultations to designate, implement and operationalise the Scams Prevention Framework (SPF).

India's food safety regulator has introduced mandatory vegan labelling standards requiring a uniform green logo on all plant-based food products. The new regulations establish precise technical specifications for the visual...

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