Soon, you may be required to furnish a valid government photo Identity if you are looking to create a profile on a online matrimonial site. Government is taking these as they have been inundated with consumer complaints in regards to fake profiles, cheating and stalking cases.
According to an HT report, the government has setup a five member inter-ministerial panel to come up with guidelines. A deadline of fortnight has been set for these guidelines to be submitted to the department of electronics and information technology (DeitY).
Along with requirement of an ID for profile creation, the guidelines may also ask the matrimonial sites to strengthen their customer complaint redressal system – where they will need to respond to all the complaints within stipulated time.
While it is great to see that government is taking steps to address the issues faced by consumers on Matrimonial sites, it very well may have an adverse effect on number of people register on these sites, if the norms are too stringent. Nilanjan Roy of matrimonial website Simplymarry.com told Hindustan Times, “Regulation is welcome but it should be inclusive. Any regulation framed should not be discriminatory that drives away people from registering at such sites”
Leading matrimony sites like Bharatmatrimony.com and Shaadi.com are sure to see lesser registrations due to this move. However, the checks will also mean that more profiles are accurate and truthful.
Online Matrimony Market in India
Online matrimonial space in India is currently dominated by four major players i.e. Shaadi.com owned by People Interactive Group), BharatMatrimony (owned by Consim Info), JeevanSaathi (owned by InfoEdge), and SimplyMarry (owned by Times Group).
Online matchmaking is big and fledging business – According to a recent report by Frost & Sullivan, the top 3 online Indian matchmaking platforms have accounted for over 5 million marriages in the last decade. On an average, shaadi.com has 10,000 new registrations a day and 3 million active users looking for spouses.
According to ASSOCHAM, in 2013, India’s online matrimonial market was Rs. 520 crore and it is estimated to triple to Rs. 1500 crore by year 2016-17. The report also mentions that over 2.5 million people upload their profiles on Matrimony sites every month and more than 50-55 million people are actively searching for a match online!
While it is good to see government take steps to curb menace of fake profiles, they should bring guidelines that will not create roadblocks to genuine users.
