Trust & Safety

Safety is the product.

Buddyly exists so you can find a real buddy without gambling on a stranger. Meeting someone with no verification, no escrow, and no one watching is exactly the risk we built Buddyly to remove. Here is what stands between a sign-up and a session — and what happens if anything goes wrong.

Verified identity

7 verification checks before a companion can appear in search.

Public venues only

Every meeting spot is a Google-verified public place — never a private address.

In-app payments only

Money is held in escrow and released after the session. Cash is banned.

Real human review

Real people review every report, every day.

Every companion passes 7 checks. No skips.

A companion profile stays invisible to you until every single step below is approved.

  1. 1

    Phone OTP

    Every account starts with a verified Indian mobile number.

  2. 2

    Email verification

    A confirmed email adds a second recovery and contact channel.

  3. 3

    College, work, or government ID

    A second photo ID is OCR-checked, then reviewed by a human.

  4. 4

    Aadhaar, verified via DigiLocker

    Aadhaar verified through the government's DigiLocker with the person's consent — we receive only their verified name, photo, and masked number, never the full number or any password.

  5. 5

    Selfie match

    A live selfie, auto-checked and face-matched against the DigiLocker Aadhaar photo — instant, no waiting on a human.

  6. 6

    Profile photo review

    The public profile photo is human-approved before it can appear anywhere — no unreviewed image is ever shown.

  7. 7

    Companion agreement

    Every companion accepts an agreement covering conduct and boundaries in-app.

What a safe session looks like

1

Book and pay in-app

The venue must be a Google-verified public place, and your payment sits in escrow — the companion isn't paid until after the session. Before your very first booking you add two emergency contacts; we only ever reach them in a genuine session emergency, and they're never shown to anyone.

2

Session start

Both of you tap “session started” in the app before the clock counts.

3

During the session

You stay at the verified public venue. Until your first session together completes, chat stays in-app with phone numbers and handles automatically redacted.

4

Session end

Both tap “session ended” and rate each other within 24 hours. Companion payout releases 4 hours later — a dispute buffer.

5

If anything felt off

One tap files a report and a real human reviews it. In an actual emergency, always call 112 first.

In an emergency, call 112

Buddyly is not an emergency service. If you are ever in danger, leave the situation and call 112 — India's national emergency number — before anything else. Once you are safe, report the session in-app so our Trust & Safety team can review the account, freeze payouts, and ban where warranted.

Reporting: one tap, human review

Every profile, chat, and booking has a one-tap report button. A human — not a model, not a queue that quietly ages out — reviews every report. Romantic or sexual solicitation, overnight requests, cash requests, and harassment all end in a permanent ban with no refund.

The rules with no exceptions

  • No romantic or sexual bookings — ever.
  • No overnight bookings, ever.
  • No private residences for the first 5 sessions between any pair.
  • Alcohol only within legal limits, at licensed venues.
  • No cash. All payments stay in-app, in escrow.
  • Violations mean a permanent ban with no refund.

What Buddyly is — and isn't

Buddyly is an online platform that connects independent, identity-verified adults. The verification, venue, payment, and reporting measures above reduce risk — they cannot eliminate it. Companions are independent contractors, not our employees or agents; we do not supervise sessions, and every member chooses to meet at their own discretion and risk. Buddyly is not an emergency-response, security, or bodyguard service. The full allocation of responsibility is in our Terms of Service.

Questions about safety?

Our Grievance Officer reads every message: grievance@buddyly.in. For any emergency during a session, call 112 first.

See how a booking works