No casual encounters on dating sites because the government sets the rules

Bombay: The Indian government, as a parent protecting children, will bring in regulations to regulate matrimonial websites to ensure that they are not used by those who have no intention of getting married.

The government will require websites to keep records of IP addresses and also require those looking for a partner to submit documents proving their identity to ensure that the websites are not “misused,” a government official told reporters in New Delhi on Thursday, requesting anonymity. Users of the sites must confirm that they intend to use them as a matrimonial service, the official said.

“We have approved standards to check fraud on such websites,” said Ravi Shankar Prasad, India’s minister for communications and information technology.

“Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi has been actively pursuing this matter. Since it was related to the IT Act, our ministry approved it today.”

The guidelines were developed in collaboration with the ministries of Information Technology, Interior and the National Commission for Women.

India is seeing a rise in online marriages as more people use the internet, even as a large number of marriages are still arranged by parents based on caste and religion. The tradition of brides and family members wearing gold ornaments at weddings has helped India become the world’s second-largest consumer of the precious metal, according to the World Gold Council.

The Indian online matrimonial business was expected to grow to ₹ 1500 crore by 2017 ₹ 520 crore in 2013, according to a 2013 report by industry lobbying group Assocham.

Sanjeev Bikhchandani, founder of Info Edge (India) Ltd, which runs the matrimonial portal Jeevansathi.com, declined to comment on the matter as he had not seen the notice.

A senior official from BharatMatrimony.com declined to comment citing the same reason.

“We are happy that the government is concerned about women’s safety and as a responsible company, we will continue to do our part. We look forward to reading the guidelines,” said Anupam Mittal, founder, Shaadi.com.

An official from the Ministry of Women and Child Development said the guidelines would not affect the business model of these websites.

“In fact, they will further facilitate growth and are there to ensure user privacy and security. Let’s wait until the guidelines are available in the public domain,” the official added, requesting anonymity.

Dipankar Gupta, a former professor of social sciences at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, said the main problem with dating sites is the issue of trust.

“Before, marriages were arranged by people who knew how to do it. With urbanization, we gradually moved to marriage columns, and today it has become even more common and impersonal.”

Indeed, even today many detective agencies earn most of their money from so-called marriage verification.

Websites should state whether they are dating or matrimonial sites, a government official said. Users will be prohibited from posting “inappropriate pictures” on such sites, the official added. Bloomberg

Amrit Raj, Upasana Jain and Vidhi Choudhary at Mint in New Delhi contributed to this article.