Safety
Rent safely.
A good listing site cannot make a stranger trustworthy. Here is what we do, and what you should do.
- 112EmergencyPolice, fire, ambulance. Free, works from any phone.
- 1091Women helplinePolice helpline for women in distress.
- 181Women helpline (Abhayam in Gujarat)24 hour counselling, rescue and referral.
- 1930Cyber fraudReport online payment fraud quickly. The first hours matter most.
Run by government agencies, not by Gharmatch. See sources and what we have checked.
Women renters: read the guide for women. In trouble now: need help now.
For everyone
- Never pay a deposit or advance before you have seen the home in person.
- Visit in daylight and tell someone where you are going.
- Check that the person showing the home is the owner or has written authority.
- Keep payments traceable. Avoid cash without a receipt and a signed agreement.
If you are a woman, or going alone
- Take a friend or family member to the first visit.
- Share your live location with someone you trust while you visit.
- Ask who else has keys and how visitors are screened at the gate.
- Check the entry lighting, the gate and the lane after dark before agreeing.
- If anything feels wrong, leave. Then report the listing so we can review it quickly.
What Gharmatch does
- Phone numbers and emails stay hidden until the other side accepts.
- Women and mixed-group searches show landlords no name or intro until they reply.
- Landlords need a verified email, a live listing and a phone number on file to invite women or mixed groups, and are capped at three invitations a day.
- Safety reports (need help, harassment, unsafe property) pause the listing or search at once. Any report from two different people does the same.
- A frozen copy of what was reported is kept, so editing or deleting a listing cannot erase the evidence.
- Messages that ask for advance, token or UPI details are refused, and listings that read like known scams are held for review.
- Every listing and search has a report button. Harassment and unsafe-property reports are reviewed first.
- You can block anyone. Blocking ends pending conversations and hides contact details both ways.
Red flags
- Asked to pay a “token” or “booking” amount before visiting.
- Photos that do not match the address, or an owner who will not meet.
- Pressure to move conversation off the platform straight away.
If you feel unsafe, leave and call 112. Then report the listing so we can act.