LoveVivah, an online matrimonial site which launched earlier this month, has tied up with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to reduce fake and non-legit profiles on its platform. While signing up in the platform, entering the user’s Aadhaar or PAN details will be mandatory.

The matrimonial company will cross check the user’s details using Aadhaar against the “demographic units” of its stored data. UIDAI will provide this service to LoveVivah. Initially, it will take in the Aadhaar number or the PAN card or passport number, then verify with the user phone number followed by Facebook and LinkedIn profile linking. A user’s date of birth, phone and email ID cannot be changed since they’re taken from the Aadhaar card.

LoveVivah provides e-matrimonial services in India and for Indians in the US, Canada, Britain, Australia and Singapore.

Government verification for matrimonial sites

In June, the Ministry of Telecom and IT approved an advisory for matrimonial sites that would require them to authenticate users’ copies of identity and address proofs at the time of registering to join matrimonial sites. In November last year, the government had set up a five-member panel from different ministries to draft guidelines which would set up norms for matrimonial websites. In May, the home ministry also planned to release a portal to let Indian women post complaints about online harassment.

A year ago, the WCD ministry had expressed concerns and suggested that Aadhaar should be used to authenticate profiles on matrimonial sites, ostensibly because “there are hundreds of people who register online on matrimony sites every month and there are increasing instances of women being cheated while looking for grooms. There are men who have multiple accounts in different websites.”

Aadhaar usage on the upswing

The usage of Aadhaar as a verification system has been on the rise where multiple services including the IIT JEE, employee provident funds, Microsoft’s Skype and Jharkhand’s food and public distribution systems have been using it. Last month in our Aadhaar watch, we found that Golu Devta temple which is famous for marriages in Uttarakhand has made it mandatory for couples to produce Aadhaar cards to prevent underage marriages.

Also read:

– How to Get Married Without an Aadhaar Number – Caravan Magazine

– The rush to get compulsory Aadhaar consent for govt schemes – Scroll

– Privacy concerns in the Aadhaar Act, 2016