India's business partners take lie detecting tests for building trust

Mahinder P (name changed), an IIM Bangalore student, conceived an idea to build a Tinder like app for jobs.

But, he wanted assistance to convert his idea into a product, and thus began the hunt for the right co-founder. Mahinder met many people who liked his idea, but was hesitant to take work with them.

"I went for various star-up events, hoping to find someone passionate to build the product with me. I would pay, and at every event interact with anyone who I found interesting but I was never convinced. The problem was not with them, it was with my state of mind; how do I know if the person is genuine and will not dupe me?," said Mahinder.

Initially, he thought a legal document would suffice to remove his misgivings. That is when Mahinder met Arnav George (name changed), a college dropout, an ethical hacker and a tech expert. George, 23, had already been duped by two partners due to his naivety in business models and did not want to repeat the mistake, again. Now, both Mahinder and George are co-founders of a product start-up, much different from what they initially started with. Their basis of trust today is a report based on a 15-minute session at a forensic lab.

The two partners decided to undergo a lie detection test or what they call trust establishment test at a private forensic lab in Bengaluru. They are not the only ones doing so. Private labs such as Truth Labs, Clue4Evidence and JK Consultancy are increasingly seeing number of people coming in with requests to undergo a polygraph test.

Polygraph, or lie detector tests, were made famous in India when investigators conducted the test during the fake stamp paper case on Abdul Karim Telgi. The modern labs do not use the sodium pentothal injection that was given to Telgi, but use voice modulation or study heart beats to validate if a person is trustworthy.

These private labs say nearly tenth of their clients are business partners looking to start a venture together.

"Until a few months back, we used to have just three-four clients. In the two months, however, we have about 10-12 requests each month, of which we do around seven-eight polygraph tests," said Phaninder BN, who runs a private lab called Clue4Evidence.

"Trust between people seems to be reducing these days. We feel this is mainly because, today, with the digital world playing an important part in people's lives, there is no emotional or long-term connections between them," added Phaninder, who conducts a polygraph test based on the voice modulations and body language of the candidate.

However, these tests are not valid in the court of law. "We only take criminal investigations for which police seek our help. Most cases are of partners who might have already said something to each other and later claim they never said so. Since documentations of aspects of business is increasingly reducing, the test becomes critical nowadays," says Surya Bharathi, who works in the Bengaluru unit of Hyderabad-based Truth Labs.

Bharathi says they at least get seven-eight clients requesting such services each month and the cost varies.

JK Consultancy goes a step further offering such services on the go or at a client's place. The company says when a partner is uncomfortable coming to a forensic expert , they get request of getting the test done in a hotel room, residence or office.

"It is a fairly new concept in the country and hence people are not completely comfortable with it. Most people, who fill out a mandatory form stating the reason for the test to be conducted, say they want to know the immediate intent of the person," said Gaurav Kaushik, partner and forensic expert at JK Consultancy. "Among the business partners, we mainly notice the younger generation wanting to go in for the test."

The firm has seen the number of tests go up from two-three a month to 15-20 cases, now.

However, the results of such tests are not considered as a valid proof in the court or to fight a legal battle. " Results of a lie detector test of any kind are not approved or even considered as a evidence in court. The only thing that one can do is use the results to lead them to concrete evidence and nothing more. Tests done privately between the couples and partners will remain invalid. However, if they wish to investigate the matter further, they can handover the results to the investigating agency. Other than that, these tests are nothing but a personal trust-building exercise, " said Nagendra Naik, a defence lawyer in cases related to the Central Board of Investigations' probe.

• Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 average cost of test per subject
   
• Reason for the test: To establish trust