Policy · Education & Skilling

CCPA fines PhysicsWallah for dark patterns

What they do

PhysicsWallah offers live courses for JEE, NEET, and other exams

CCPA imposed a ₹5 Lakh penalty for pre-selected donation and forced data collection

The company also revised its lending strategy to partner with NBFCs instead of direct lending

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) imposed a ₹5 Lakh penalty on PhysicsWallah for using dark patterns (deceptive design tricks that trick users into doing things they didn't intend).
The CCPA order was dated June 1, 2026.
PhysicsWallah collected about ₹2.47 Crore from over 21.36 Lakh users through a pre-selected donation option.
The donation option was a pre-ticked ₹10 'Donate for PW Foundation' checkbox active from February 2024 to December 2025.
The CCPA classified this practice as 'basket sneaking' (adding items to a user's cart without their explicit consent).
The messaging alongside the donation option amounted to 'confirm shaming' (using guilt or pressure to make users agree).
The CCPA also found forced action: users had to provide their mobile number and email to access free courses.
A CCPA inspection on December 22, 2025 found the donation option was still selected by default.

PhysicsWallah argued the donation feature was clearly disclosed and about 64% of users chose not to donate.
The CCPA rejected this argument, stating that visibility does not equal consent.
The CCPA directed PhysicsWallah to discontinue all dark patterns, pay the penalty, and submit a compliance report within 15 days.
The CCPA also fined McAfee ₹1 Lakh for dark patterns on the same day.
The CCPA has taken action against Zepto, Flipkart, and FirstCry for dark patterns over the past year.

PhysicsWallah offers live courses for JEE, NEET, Class 6-12, NCERT solutions, competitive exams, school boards, government exams, UG/PG entrance, finance courses, PW Skills, study abroad, and more.
The platform provides daily live interactive classes, over 10 million tests, 24x7 doubt solving, and 100+ offline centres.
It operates offline Vidyapeeth and Pathshala centres in 175+ cities.
The platform claims millions of happy students and offers mock tests, video lectures, and practice papers.
It prepares students for 35+ exam categories.

PhysicsWallah revised its student lending strategy: it will partner with NBFCs (non-banking financial companies) instead of direct lending via FinZ Finance.
The company had announced about ₹120 Crore investment in FinZ Finance.
The revised approach reduces balance sheet and credit-related risks.
PhysicsWallah will function as a technology platform connecting students with lending partners.
The future direction of FinZ Finance is subject to board and regulatory approvals.