Several 'dodgy' dating and friendship Chinese apps among those banned by the government

Bengaluru: The latest ban on 118 Chinese apps includes several popular Chinese dating and live-chatting apps, many of which have faced allegations of cheating and cat fishing from users and homegrown competitors.

L’amour, Amour, LivU, Mico Chat, Kitty Live, Malay Social Dating, Zakzak Pro, Zakzak Live, and US-listed Momo Inc’s Tantan app, are in the latest list.

Most of these apps have garnered millions of downloads on Google Play Store in India and make a tidy sum through in-app purchases.


In fact, L’amour was one of the most downloaded dating apps in India in 2019, according to research and analytics firm Sensor Tower. YouTube, as well and Google Play reviews, are full of users complaining about girls gone missing once the men pay for membership.

L’amour and LivU have been accused of employing bots or hiring women to pose as an interested user or for chatting with male users.

“These are mostly transactional apps. If a man signs up on L’amour, he gets 6 matches immediately. The girl starts sending photos and messages. If the man wants to chat with the “girl” they have to pay. That’s their business model,” said Meet Kanodia, co-founder and CEO of GoGaga app. “It hits people like us because everyone starts doubting dating app legitimacy. We get into the radar for no reason.”

L’amour’s parent company Asia Innovations, which is backed by investors such as Wicklow Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, did not reply to an email seeking comment. LivU and Zakzak also did not respond to ET’s email.

According to industry estimates, there are at least 100 live chatting and video-dating apps, not only from China but also Russia, Ukraine, and South Korea. GoGaga has filed a complaint with Google against a friendship and social dating app called Gaga on Play Store for ‘Misuse of Trademark’.

GoGaga has alleged that it receives multiple complaints about fraud from users of the Gaga app because they mistake Gaga for GoGaga. Gaga did not reply to ET's queries on the allegations.

“These apps create an environment where dating apps are bad. They show raunchy and misleading ads. In India, the female ‘like’ rate is 8%. If the app is showing a ‘like’ rate of 60% it is obviously fake. These are all scammy ways of earning money,” said Snehil Khanor, CEO at TrulyMadly. “These apps were ultimately degrading the perception of the dating apps industry. These apps create an environment where dating apps are bad.”

One of the challenges the Indian dating app segment faces is a skewed gender ratio. In India, dating apps do not have more than 20-30% female profiles, which at most times are highly unresponsive.

“Most of these apps are basically an (online) escort service. They hire agencies in India to do active calls, they hire females through networks. What is morally wrong here is that they say, 'find love' and stuff. Right now, not all apps are banned. They use US accounts to create Google Play accounts,” said a former senior executive of an international dating app.