Consumer court orders ₹25k compensation to man who sued Kerala Matrimony over failure to find a bride

A district consumer disputes redressal forum (DCDRC) at Ernakulam, Kerala recently ordered Kerala Matrimony to pay ₹25,000 as compensation (apart from costs) to a man who alleged that the matrimonial services website had failed to deliver on its promise to find him a bride.

District forum President DB Binu and members Ramachandran V and Sreevidhia TN passed the order on May 15 after concluding that there was a deficiency of service on the part of Kerala Matrimony.

The forum added that the complainant was one of several 'victims' of the matrimonial website, going by public opinions from social media that were produced by the complainant to support his case.

"The opposite party had given attractive displays to catch the attention of the seekers of required and had not provided necessary services to them and the opposite party have not produced any evidence to prove that they have provided the promised service to the complainant. The complainant had also produced the public opinion from social media to substantiate his argument. Therefore it can be concluded that the complainant is only one among the many of the victims of the opposite party," the consumer court ruling said.

The complaint was filed by a Cherthala native (complainant) in May 2019. He told the consumer forum that he had initially entered his biodata on Kerala Matrimony's website in 2018.

Later, he was allegedly approached by Kerala Matrimony's representative at his residence and office, where he was urged to pay ₹4,100 for a three-month subscription so that he could be matched with a potential bride.

The complainant added that he initially sought details of these prospective matches beforehand, but was told that these details would only be given once the fee is paid.

The complainant said that he eventually paid the amount in January 2019. However, after the fee payment was made, he claimed that his calls and attempts to contact Kerala Matrimony went unanswered.

Frustrated, he filed a consumer complaint seeking a refund of his fee payment, among other reliefs.

Before the consumer court, Kerala Matrimony countered that the complainant was enrolled in their classic package, which allowed access to multiple profiles and communication features.

It argued that its role was confined to being an intermediary and providing access to information regarding prospective matches on its system. This information is uploaded by the customers themselves, and Kerala Matrimony has no role to play beyond giving access to such information, it was contended.

It further submitted that the complainant, in this case, had access to a number of profiles and was allowed to contact 50 numbers associated with such profiles, to explore if a partner could be found among them.

The company insisted that it had communicated these terms and conditions clearly to the complainant.

It was asserted that Kerala Matrimony had not stated anywhere that they would arrange the marriage for the complainant, nor could he show any proof of such a guarantee.

However, the DCDRC eventually found that there was no substantial evidence to show that Kerala Matrimony delivered on its promised services.

Therefore, the consumer forum ordered Kerala Matrimony to refund the fee of ₹4,100 to the complainant with interest, apart from paying him ₹25,000 as compensation and ₹3,000 as litigation costs.

Bharath L 

Advocate 

High court of Karnataka Bangalore 

9844734166