Beware of Blinkit shady tactics
Hey all, Im sharing this here to raise awareness about a deceptive practice that Blinkit is using to withhold customer money.
What Happened:
On June 10, I placed an order worth ₹526 paid via UPI, which was subsequently cancelled.
Blinkit’s bot asked if I would like my refund issued as a promo code for future orders.
I clicked "Yes, proceed!" under the assumption that this was a standard refund credit.
The Catch: Only after my consent was obtained and the cancellation was finalized did the bot send a follow-up message stating the promo code would automatically expire in 30 days. There was no prompt before consent warning me of the expiry, nor was there an "Undo" option after.
When I checked later, my ₹526 had lapsed and vanished.
Why This Is Illegal:
Under the CCPA Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns (2023), hiding material restrictive terms until after securing consumer consent is explicitly classified as a deceptive UI practice and an Unfair Trade Practice under Section 2(47) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
A company cannot convert real cash (paid via UPI) into an expiring coupon without prior informed consent.
The Escalation so far:
Customer Support & Grievance Officer (grievance.officer@blinkit.com): Sent copy-pasted templates saying "The code expired on July 10, nothing can be done."
National Consumer Helpline (NCH Docket 9878123): Blinkit responded on the government portal with the exact same automated refusal script and closed the docket.
What's Next:
Since mediation failed, I am thinking of a formal legal filing on e-Jagriti (E-Daakhil) for the District Consumer Commission to claim the principal amount along with compensation for time wasted to get my money back.
How You Can Help:
If you’ve faced similar issues with Blinkit platform hiding refund conditions, or if you’d like to help bring visibility to this so Blinkit fixes their consent flow:
👉 Please like/retweet the X thread here:
Posted Aug 12, 2026, 2:10 PM UTC