Not Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi or Goa, a tiny TN town has most affairs in India: All about India's 'non monogamy hotspot'

A tier-3 town with just 2 lakh population has emerged as India's biggest non-monogamy hotspot, according to data from dating app Ashley Madison.

Ashley Madison began as the definitive 'dating app for cheaters'. They promote themselves as the world's no 1 married dating app, but it may just be a case of potato-potahto there. The platform now has a growing footprint in India, as evident by the signup date it released for June 2025. It shows that not only is India one of the fastest-growing markets for the app, but tier-2 and tier-3 towns in the country are overtaking the metros as the 'non-monogamy hotspots'. At the top spot in this list is a Tamil Nadu town with a population of just 2 lakh.

India's non-monogamy hotspot

Ashley Madison released its June 2025 data, giving a list of 20 districts in India that have seen the most signups for the app, and used other indicators to determine cities where infidelity and non-monogamy are the highest. At the top of the 20 city list is Tamil Nadu's Kanchipuram (also known Kanjeevaram), a quaint town otherwise known for its sarees, temples, and architecture. The data shows that the city has more signups and non-monogamy intensity than even metros like Delhi and Mumbai. Central Delhi comes second in the list, followed by Gurgaon. Interestingly, Kanchipuram was 17th in the list last year. Ashley Madison has not explained the reason behind this unprecedented jump.

Other cities in the top 20

Mumbai is not even in the top 20, while tier-2 cities like Ghaziabad, Jaipur, Raigarh, Kamrup, and Chandigarh make it. As many as 9 cities from Delhi-NCR find place in the top 20, including 6 districts of Delhi (Central Delhi, South West Delhi, East Delhi, South Delhi, West Delhi, and North West Delhi), apart from the neighbouring cities of Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, and Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida).

Non-monogamy in India

In April, Ashley Madison revealed in a survey via YouGov that India and Brazil have the highest rates of admitted infidelity, with 53 percent of surveyed adults confessing to having ever had an affair.

“This data highlights a striking trend—India is leading the way in redefining modern relationships, with more than half of surveyed adults admitting to infidelity,” Paul Keable, chief strategy officer at Ashley Madison, said in a statement, adding, “India is already ranked sixth among our global markets, and we anticipate it climbing even higher by the end of the year. These numbers suggest the growing acceptance of non-monogamy, and at Ashley Madison, we provide a space for people to explore those connections discreetly.”