Intent
to Marry ?
Department
of Electronics and Information Technology ( DeitY ) has just issued following
" Advisory " to matrimonial web sites :
#
Web sites will have to ask users to enter into a " User Agreement "
in which there is a " confirmation of the
user's intent to enter into a matrimonial alliance "
#
The user agreement will also be accompanied by the user having to furnish photo
IDs to register online, for user
verification ( I wonder , why Aadhar Card Number got left out ! )
#
These portals are mandated to adhere to the provisions of the Information
Technology Act 2000 and the Rules
made there under including The Information Technology ( Intermediaries
Guidelines ) Rules, 2011
#
These web sites should strive to achieve national and international standards
#
These web sites must display the name of the Grievance Officer as mandated by
the Intermediaries Guidelines
WHY
ALL THESE FUSS ?
According
to DeitY :
#
There have been instances where users of matrimonial web sites falsify their
marital status , age , height , personality , health , social and economic
status .
#
In most of the cases , victims are women who fall prey to these
fraudsters after getting introduced through fake profiles on matrimonial
portals
HOW
ARE OTHERS COPING ? :
#
Job
Portals
Fake
" Profiles ( Resumes ) " on Job Portals are more of a " Norm
" than an exception !
Of
course , most Appointment Letters carry a clause that the appointment will get
cancelled if it is later found that a candidate has furnished wrong information
/ fudged data / hidden pertinent facts , in his profile
Such
annulment of a contract is not so easy in case of a marriage , so , to an
extent , DeitY is justified in its advisory
#
E
Commerce Platforms
Wrong
representations are also a major problem on most E Commerce Platforms , where
Buyers and Sellers exchange information about themselves . A few web sites do
carry out some sort of " Pre-Verification "
Then
there are web sites which have systems of " Online Reviews / Ratings
" , of both , the buyers and the sellers / users of services , which act
as some sort of " Credit Rating / Reputation Index " . Of course ,
even in these cases , occasionally , " Fake Reviews " get
posted !
#
Social
Media Web Sites
There
is practically no entry-barrier , nor any verification of the users
"
Likes / Shares / Comments / No of Connections / No of Followers
" etc , decide the reputation of a user
#
Resource
Sharing Web Sites
Some
minimum verification is being carried out but " Reviews " and "
User Ratings " decide the trustworthiness
WHAT
ABOUT OFFLINE MARRIAGE FRAUDS ?
I
believe problem of our Society is far more with " OFFLINE " marriage
frauds , rather than ONLINE frauds !
If
you have any doubt , read following article from Wikipedia :
"
India has by far the highest number of dowry related deaths in the world according to Indian National Crime Record Bureau.
In 2012, 18,233 dowry death cases were reported across India. This means a
bride was burned every 90 minutes, or dowry issues cause 1.4 deaths per year per 100,000 women in India.
"
Yesterday's newspapers also gave
following data :
* No of court cases pending in India
............ 218 lakh
* Of these , cases filed by
women................ 21 lakh ( I guess , only a handful for fraud on
Matrimonial Portals )
I
don't think , Matrimonial Portals can do anything beyond implementing
DeitY advisory , just as Mobile Service Providers cannot control the
usage of Mobile phone service ( including threat-calls / sending of
obscene MMS videos , etc ) , despite collecting KYC ( Know Your Customer )
document from its users
On
other hand , MSPs do maintain - and make available to the Govt Authorities ,
Call Logs of any user , if demanded by the Authorities but I don't think
Matrimonial Portals can maintain Logs of any such transactions between its
users !
Who
knows , that could well be the next ADVISORY from DeitY !
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
19 June 2016
www.hemenparekh.in
/ blogs
hemen
parekh
Marol
, Mumbai , India
( M
) +91 - 98,67,55,08,08
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