Not just horoscope, your ID proof too could count

Bengaluru: It's not just your horoscope that'll matter when you are looking for a right match through online matrimonial sites. Going by a recent ministry of communications and information technology advisory, prospective matches on such platforms will have to provide address and identity proof while creating profiles and registering with these sites.The purpose is to ensure all information pertaining to an individual like marital status, age, height, personality, health and socio-economic status, among others, are genuine.
On June 6, the ministry of communications and information technology, government of India (GoI), issued an advisory on the functioning of matrimonial websites in accordance with The Information Technology Act, 2000 and Rules. The move aims to curb fraudulent alliances and cases of cheating that have been on the rise over the years.
The advisory calls upon matrimonial sites to make provision for uploading ID and address proofs. Documents like Aadhaar, passport and voter's ID card are expected to create a trail to verify if claims made by the prospective bride or groom are authentic.
According to Maneka Gandhi, minister for women and child welfare, this initiative will help over 1 crore Indian women who are looking for their right match through matrimonial sites. "There have been women who have been asked sleazy questions by men on the platforms and cyber bullied," Maneka recently said at a women journalists' workshop.
Online service providers of matrimonial sites will now have to find out possible ways for better regulations in order to mitigate and eliminate frauds in digital space. In Karnataka, the state women's commission is framing rules and regulations based on the GoI move and will soon have a meeting on the issue with NGOs and other stakeholders.
"This is a necessity as instances of NRI grooms cheating Indian brides are on the rise. In Karnataka, we have to call for a meeting shortly to frame rules based on the advisory," said a senior officer from Karnataka Women's Commission.
Matrimonial websites, a popular medium to fix marriages, have also received the advisory.
"The advisory strongly recommends uploading ID proofs of users to enhance security. However, our portal already has a provision to upload the same. But the onus is on the part of the users. In fact, less than 10% of the users have uploaded their ID proof so far," said Murugavel Janakiraman, founder-CEO, Matrimony.com, whose Bharatmatrimony portal has over 7,000-8,000 new members enrolling with it every day across the world.
Matchmaking website Banihal.com too has a provision for users to upload their identity documents. "No doubt, this enhances transparency. But it would have been great if the government also supported us in electronically cross-checking the authenticity of the documents uploaded by users," said Ishdeep Sawhney, CEO and founder of Banihal. The startup gets hundreds of fresh registrations every day and tracks the IP address of the users for authenticity.
Sharanya Hegde, president, Mahila Dakshata Samithi, says the move will be help prevent crimes against women. "It sends an alert and makes men careful; they can't be uploading fake identity details," says Hegde.
THE ADVISORY CALLS FOR...
**A user agreement (terms and conditions) accepted by each user at the time of registration, confirmation of user's intent to enter into a matrimonial alliance and confirmation that the user information provided is correct to the best of his/her knowledge
**A privacy policy which shall provide for clear statements of its privacy practices and policies, including internal controls to safeguard personal information of the users
**Matrimonial website shall strive to provide for user verification by registering his/her mobile number as a due diligence measure
** Strongly advise users to submit/upload true copies of identity and address proof documents for the purpose of user authentication
** Highlight prominently on homepages that the website is strictly for matrimonial purpose only and not for dating and shouldn't be used for posting any obscene material