A Punjab-based NGO has raised an alarm about smart cards being issued in Telangana for vehicle registration certificate (RC) and driving licence by the State Road Transport Authority. The cards are allegedly prone to data breach, according to Kamal Soi of Raahat, the NGO. He called for a probe into the use of non-Smart Card Operating Systems for Transport Applications (SCOSTA) complaint chips in the smart cards.
Mr. Soi filed a complaint with the Transport department after an former employee of the company pointed out the use of ‘fake, substandard and non-complaint chips’ in the card. The letter was also sent to the Telangana Transport Minister on May 8.
Mr. Soi, the chairman of Raahat, said that it could be a ₹25-30 crore scam by the use of cheaper chips of Chinese-origin which are vulnerable to security and data breaches.
The whistleblower has recognised five such cards of the 2024 series which were not equipped with SCOSTA mandated by the National Informatics Centre (NIC).
“We brought this issue up with the State Transport department. However, after being promised a probe post-polling on May 13, the department has now stopped answering our calls and denied any probe into the matter,” said Mr. Soi adding that the next move for the organisation will be to move the High Court.
However, a senior technical officer in the Telangana Transport department said, ”As per the agreement, Color Plast India was to supply cards embedded with Samsung chips. We are now writing a letter to the National Informatics Centre for testing of cards for the material of the chip based on the serial numbers shared with us in the letter. Based on the test results, further probe will be initiated.”
The company was awarded the tender to supply pre-printed PVC smart cards to the State Transport department in February 2023 on contract basis for a year. So far, 50 lakh cards supplied by the company have been issued in the State. Telangana issues at least 18-19 lakh cards to citizens every year, data from the Telangana Transport department revealed. According to sources, the company was given the tender at ₹32 per chip. “The chips being used to make these cards are available for ₹3-₹4, while the SCOSTA compliant chips cost close to ₹27-₹28. The intention of the fraud could just be financial profits, also leave cards vulnerable to hacking and data breaches,” Mr. Soi explained. Interestingly, the whistleblower accused the company of similar offences in Gujarat and Bihar earlier.
