You want a premium number. The site wants your phone number first. That exchange is the dark pattern IRDAI's September 23 consultation paper proposes to prohibit: product, pricing and quality information should be available in a standard, easy-to-understand form without seeking personal details from consumers. Until the proposal becomes a rule, here is how to compare cover without becoming a lead.

Method and data basis

Built from IRDAI's consultation paper Section 9 as reported by Fortune India (September 24, 2026) and News18 (September 25, 2026), the Central Consumer Protection Authority dark-pattern guidelines under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, and IRDAI's enforcement history: entities were directed to self-assess compliance, insurers reported no dark patterns, and IRDAI engaged the Institute of Public Auditors of India for nine months of independent monitoring. Consumer group LocalCircles has asked IRDAI and the CCPA to explicitly add privacy zuckering, over-collection of data later used for marketing or differential pricing.

What dark patterns look like on insurance sites

  • The quote wall: premium visible only after phone, email and sometimes age and income are submitted.
  • The call-back ambush: a number submitted for a quote triggers a sales queue, not an email.
  • Pre-checked consent: boxes ticked for marketing or data sharing that you did not tick.
  • Artificial urgency: countdown timers and limited-seat messaging on an annual contract that never expires.
  • Buried charges: fees revealed on the last screen, after the quote you compared on.

The checklist

  1. Start at the insurer. Insurers publish premium calculators openly on their own sites; a nameless calculator needs no call-back.
  2. Use a fake-tolerance approach. If a form requires a number, use an email you control and do not answer unknown calls for a day.
  3. Never share an OTP. No legitimate quote, renewal or claim ever needs your OTP over phone or chat.
  4. Untick every pre-ticked box before submitting anything, twice: once on the form, once in the confirmation email.
  5. Compare like with like: same IDV, same cover, same deductible. A cheaper quote with a thinner cover is not a saving.
  6. Screenshot the final screen including charges, before you pay.
  7. Check the domain. Web addresses ending .gov.in are government; IRDAI's grievance portal is bimabharosa.irdai.gov.in. Anything else claiming to be IRDAI gets reported, not trusted.
  8. If pricing is blocked behind data, that is a complaint: file it on Bima Bharosa against the insurer or distributor concerned.

What changes if the proposal is adopted

Two shifts: price access without personal data becomes an enforceable expectation rather than a courtesy, and IRDAI has proposed tracking dark patterns and publishing relevant performance information, which makes repeat offenders visible to the market. Neither is law yet; comments close on October 25, 2026. Until then, the checklist above is the working substitute.