Rs 50 per hour: Rent-a-friend apps gain traction in Kerala, but experts sound caution

Written by Varsha Somaraj for The New Indian Express

A new kind of social platform is gaining traction in Indian cities, including parts of Kerala. Promoted as a tool for building companionship, these online groups allow users to rent a friend for a certain number of hours. Whether it is someone to join you for a walk, a coffee, a movie, or accompany you to a public event, the promise is simple — companionship on demand, for a price.

Applications such as DosthAdda, FRND, PalMatch, along with Facebook and Telegram groups, display profiles of individuals who offer their time in return for a fee. Users can browse these profiles, filter them by age, language or interests, and book someone based on availability.

Users can also sign up to ‘become a friend’ and offer companionship. Hourly fees start as low as Rs 50 and go up based on activities. These platforms describe their services as strictly non-romantic. They specify that there should be no physical contact, no personal questions and no private locations. The companion arrives, spends the booked time and leaves once the session ends.

For Bushra Beegom R K, head of the sociology department at University of Kerala, the trend reflects rising urban isolation in the state. “Young people move away from home. The quality of nuclear families is deteriorating. Nobody has time to spend. Friendships thin out as work takes over. In that vacuum, a paid friend might feel like an easy fix. But it is not the same as a relationship that grows without money involved,” said Bushra.

But along with rising visibility, concerns are growing. In Kerala, some users have alleged that they were overcharged or misled by app advertisements. A few complaints posted in online forums mention persistent follow-up messages and confusion over cancellation policies. “The real issue is that it is marketed as just another social networking app. Someone who’s casually browsing might end up in serious trouble without even realising it. The world isn’t always as safe as these apps make it seem, at least until there is a proper system to address issues,” a user from Kerala noted in an online post.

Still, the concept appears to be expanding in the state. Lawyer and economist Meera Nazer called the trend a dystopian market response that sits well within capitalism. “Loneliness has become something of an epidemic. There is serious lack of third spaces.

So people who need companionship seek it out. You are paying for the performance of presence. This shows how far capitalism has moved into our emotional lives,” she pointed out. The concerns are most visible in metropolitan cities.

At times, even reaching across the same city has become difficult. “Friends in the same city might plan meetups but end up not meeting for a year or more. In our state, people working in MNC backends with difficult work hours look out for comfort even at a price.

That’s how comfort is commodified. Like how you swiggy in goods or health services to improve man to serve the capitalistic ends. Here, man itself is commodified to serve the capitalistic ends and thereby widening prevalent social inequalities in the society,” added Meera.

Meanwhile, Bushra said neo-liberal ideas, combined with social media influence, are making people treat friendships and social interactions like commodities.

“Our society is trying to copy non-material culture from developed countries, such as social habits, lifestyles, and ways of interacting, without having the local spaces or support to make them work. For new trends to succeed here, our communities and infrastructure need to be properly prepared, instead of just imitating others,” she said. While these platforms stress safety and professionalism, there is little regulation. Many do not have clear redressal mechanisms.

“The demand is real and so is the loneliness it responds to. But whether renting a friend provides lasting relief or only a temporary distraction depends on whether society is ready to support such emerging trends. Connection requires more than transactions. It needs systems, spaces and a culture that can nurture them,” added Bushra.