A Federal Court ruling found that eHarmony misled hundreds of thousands of Australian subscribers about subscription costs and durations, with auto-renewals sometimes running up to five times the initial price.

The ACCC had sued eHarmony, and the court determined six breaches of consumer law related to how subscription lengths, auto-renewals, and minimum monthly prices were disclosed.

The case stems from a 2023 action over claims of misleading free membership, hidden costs, and automatic renewal terms that led to hundreds of dollars charged without clear consumer consent.

A single-price rule was highlighted, requiring a clear headline monthly figure with the total minimum spend shown to prevent obscured commitments.

Penalties have not yet been decided; a forthcoming penalty hearing will set financial penalties, consumer redress, and other orders with potential implications for pricing disclosures across dating apps.

ACCC Commissioner emphasized ongoing subscription traps as a broader risk in the digital economy, urging clearer disclosures to guard consumers against dark pattern practices.

The court focused on interface design elements—where terms appear, their size, and the steps to cancel—to determine conduct, rather than asserting explicit deceptive statements.

The judgment labeled several practices as dark patterns, including long auto-renewals at up to five times the original price and failures to disclose these terms clearly.

ACCC commissioner noted the regulator acted after hundreds of consumer complaints, with penalties and redress to be decided in a separate proceeding.

Justice Horan criticized the lack of prominent disclosure about automatic renewals and higher undiscounted prices, noting renewals were not likely conscious choices for most members.

The court found consumers were not adequately informed about the true duration of memberships or auto-renewal terms, including higher undiscounted prices.

The judge stressed that auto-renewal at a higher price was a significant concern that should have been disclosed more prominently and earlier in the purchase process.