Pak taxi app offers ride to life-long partnership

A Pakistan app-based taxi service has launched an unusual add on, offering passengers the chance to share their ride with a marriage matchmaker.

Users in Pakistan woke on Wednesday to an unexpected notification from Careem — an Uberlike taxi hailing app popular in Muslim countries: Have a ‘rishta aunty’ accompany you during your ride.

Rishta aunties, as marriage matchmakers are known in South Asia, keep detailed records of eligible men and women — from education level and salary, to height, weight and even skin tone — and will set you up with your future spouse, for a fee.

Usually portrayed in popular culture as bespectacled women with a clipboard of names and an ancient Nokia mobile, the aunties have had an update thanks to Careem. The “rishta” service — which has only been rolled out for two days in two cities in Pakistan — quickly had the country’s vocal Twitterati on overdrive.

“Careem is the halal Tinder now, except that there’s a rishta aunty who’ll do the swiping for you,” joked Twitter user CrazeeGentleman.

But many were speculating that it was just a marketing ploy by the taxi app service. “Driving with rishta aunty a success for @CareemPAK already, it’s 11:33am and half the marketers in my list are talking about it,” wrote Amnaa Tariq on Twitter.

Careem Pakistan was quick to defend the move as a legitimate service.

“We’d noticed that rishtas are a popular topic of discussion among our more senior users. So we’ve launched this service in order to help the younger people find a right match,” said Careem Pakistan’s head of public affairs Sibtain Naqvi, according to local media.