Bharatmatrimony told to stop advertising success rate

NEW DELHI: Helping arrange marriages is fine, but advertising about it is not.

That's the message from India's anti-monopoly watchdog to matrimony website Bharatmatrimony.com Pvt Ltd, which last year claimed that it has arranged 1,942 marriages between 1999 to July 5, 2006 and facilitated seven lakh more wedlocks.

The website also advertised through newspapers that it had eight times more success stories than its nearest rival, which was objected to by competitor Shaadi.com.

"It is a fit case that the respondent (Bharatmatrimony) is restrained from making claims through press/ insertion in its website or by any other manner of its success stories," MRTPC member MK Sardana said passing an order on a petition filed by Shaadi.com.

According to Mumbai-based People Interactive Pvt Ltd, which runs Shaddi.com, though Bharatmatrimony.com did not mention its name, it was implied.

Agreeing with the petitioner, the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission said: "Petitioner has made a prima facie case that the claim made by respondent... is false and misrepresenting and disparaging to complainant".

The Commission also issued a notice of enquiry over such advertisements in some newspapers and directed the portal to file a reply in four weeks.

On Bharatmatrimony's claim that it has entered into Limca Book of Records, MRTPC said: "Record certification only refers to the documented marriages, whereas the website claims that the record has been certified... for the highest number of
marriages. Thus there is a distortion."