People Interactive (I) Private Limited - Shaadi.com
Recommendation: Upheld | Medium: Industry Member
The ASCI had approached the advertiser for its response in addressing the grievances of the complainant and forwarded the
details of the complaint, verbatim, to the advertiser with a request to respond to the same. The advertiser was offered an option
to seek an Informal Resolution (IR) of the complaint by modifying or withdrawing the claims in the advertisement, or alternately
to substantiate the claims with supporting data. The advertiser was also offered an opportunity for a telecon with the ASCI
Secretariat, which they did not avail and submitted their response.
The advertiser in their response stated that, “It is submitted that out of the 8 million plus users who have found their
successful match using the Company’s platform, 4 lakh such users have found their successful match using the Company’s
Tamil matrimonial platform - www.tamilshaadi.com”.
In support of their response, the advertiser provided their reply dated 13th March 2025 submitted towards the claim of
`8ML Success Story – Shaadi.com’.
The advertiser’s response along with the claim support data was referred to an Independent technical expert of ASCI for an
opinion in the matter. The expert’s opinion was then shared with the complainant and the advertiser for making additional
submissions.
The complainant and the advertiser did not respond to the expert’s opinion.
The Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) viewed the TV advertisement, considered the complaint, the advertiser’s response,
and the expert opinion presented at the meeting.
The CCC observed that the advertiser has claimed that 4 lakhs of users found matches through their Tamil Matrimony
platform, and this number was derived as a percentage of the total success stories on their main platform, Shaadi.com.
To estimate the total number of matches on Shaadi.com, the advertiser has used a method involving users who deleted
their profiles citing they had found a match, as well as users who became inactive. These numbers were then doubled
based on the assumption that each match involves two users, even though typically only one of the pair may delete
their profile or become inactive. The assumption that only one person in a matched pair deletes their profile has been questioned, as it is also possible that both people may delete their profiles. This makes the method of doubling the
numbers unreliable.
The CCC discussed that the advertiser has conducted a telephone survey among inactive users to estimate how many
of them found a match. However, both the selection of the sample and the execution of the survey were done by the
advertiser, and not by an independent third party. The advertiser has stated that the success stories of Tamil
Matrimony were extrapolated from the total Shaadi.com figures by applying a fixed percentage. The same percentage
was applied consistently over a number of years, which would require that Tamil Matrimony grew at exactly the same
rate and had identical success rates as the main platform each year. The advertiser has not explained how the
percentage used to estimate matches on the Tamil Matrimony platform was chosen. The same percentage was applied
for many years, but no clear basis for this has been provided.
The CCC further discussed that the data used in the estimation such as users who reported matches online or via
customer support were system generated. However, these figures were not independently verified.
Based on this assessment, the CCC concluded that the claim, “4 lakh success stories”, was inadequately substantiated. The
claim is misleading by exaggeration and is likely to cause widespread disappointment among consumers. The claim in the
advertisement contravened Chapter I, Clauses 1.1, 1.4 and 1.5 of the ASCI Code. This complaint was UPHELD
