Community · Accountability · Privacy
Neighbours helping neighbours — with real identities behind every account.
Landing in a new country with no one to call is hard. Helping Bandhu connects newcomers with Indian volunteers living in their own city, anywhere in the world — someone to help you find a place to live, sort out the first weeks, and answer the questions nobody tells you. Because trust starts with accountability, every active account must belong to a real, identifiable person.
We check that your name matches your photo ID — this is not a safety or background check.
Check once. Share as little as possible.
Every account is a real person
You cannot create an active account with only a name, an email address and a phone number. Everyone confirms their real name first, always.
We don't keep your ID photo
We read the name on your ID, compare it to the name you entered, and keep only that result and its date. No images. No document numbers.
Your legal name stays private
Other members see only your display name and city. Your government document is never shown publicly, and administrators cannot browse ID images.
Community recognition
Helper badges
Helpers earn badges automatically as they accept requests, reply to posts and receive reviews from the people they helped. They are listed in the order a helper climbs them — from the very first request accepted up to the highest level of helping.
First Helping Hand
Accepted their first request for help
Neighbourhood Helper
Accepted 5 or more requests for help
Helpful Guide
Replied on 10 or more help posts
City Champion
Accepted 15 or more requests for help
Always Answers
Replied on 25 or more help posts
Highly Rated
Rated 4.5 or higher by at least 3 people
Five-Star Helper
Rated 4.8 or higher by at least 3 people
Community Pillar
Accepted 40 or more requests for help
Badges describe recorded activity and ratings only. They do not mean that someone is safe, trusted, background checked or guaranteed, and they do not confirm character or conduct.
Joining the community
Eight steps, one name check
- 01Choose how you want to participate
- 02Basic information
- 03Confirm your real name
- 04Photo of your ID
- 05Name check result
- 06Complete your profile
- 07Accept the agreements
- 08Your account becomes active
What the badge means
An Identity Verified badge means the name on the account matched the name printed on a government-issued photo ID the member photographed. Nothing more.
It does not mean safe, trusted, background checked or criminal-record checked, and it does not guarantee a person's character, intentions, conduct or reliability.
Visit the Safety CentreFour labels, four different meanings
Identity, police submission, personal acquaintance and the founder
Helping Bandhu is free and never takes a payment. Every active member carries the first label. The others are optional and describe separate facts, so you know exactly what each one does — and does not — tell you.
Identity Verified
The name on the account matched the name printed on a government-issued photo ID the member photographed, along with a live face check and head-turn test. Required of everyone before they can post or help.
Police Check Submitted
Optional. A helper asks their own local police service for a police clearance certificate — usually around $25, paid directly to that service, never to us — and uploads it here. We read the name, the issuing service and the date, confirm the name matches the account, and keep no copy of the certificate.
The label says only that a certificate was submitted. We do not confirm it is genuine; anything unclear goes to a person on our team.
Known to Pramath
Pramath personally knows this member and manually added the label. Only Pramath can give it, and only to people he personally knows. It is not an identity, police or background check.
Founder
This account started Helping Bandhu and runs it. Only the founder's account carries it — no one else can take it, and it is not something a member can claim.
It is a role label, not a check of any kind. The founder is held to the same rules as everyone else: the Identity Verified and Police Check Submitted labels appear on his account only because those checks are actually complete.
None of these labels means safe, trusted, vetted or guaranteed, and none of them confirms character, intentions, conduct or reliability. Please use your own judgement before meeting anyone or sharing personal information.