Roadblocks for drivers as smart cards go dumb

["Vivek Gupta" <vgupta@iimahd.ernet.in>]

Roadblocks for drivers as smart cards go dumb
AMIT MUKHERJEE

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  [ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 01, 2002 12:46:42 AM ]

AHMEDABAD: The 'smart card', synonymous with driving on Gujarat 
roads, has gone dumb. The much hyped cards, with an embedded chip, 
which was supposed to hold details ranging from blood group, personal 
data and driving offences, has been reduced to a piece of metal stuck 
on a strip of plastic.  

According to senior transport officials, all the 14 lakh smart cards 
issued in the state over the last three years are not only useless as 
far as their electronic viability is concerned, but also unreliable. 
"It is difficult even now to ascertain the exact identities of most 
of the owners", said an official.  

With no provision to store the data of the applicants, licenses are 
being issued even on fake and duplicate documents. Also due to lack 
compliance of anti-tampering mechanisms as specified in the contract, 
smart cards are being faked widely.  

The issue has also raised concerns of the Union home ministry, on 
grounds of national security, based on reports that even foreign 
nationals can get hold of these licenses to establish their domicile. 
The home minister LK Advani has directed for an inquiry into the 
matter.  

The Delhi-based company Smart Chip Limited (SCL), which bagged the 
contract for issuing these cards, flouted the norms laid down by the 
Union ministry of road transport. "Despite three years of operation, 
the company has not been able to provide the data base regarding the 
licensees," laments an official at the office of the transport 
commissioner. Due to lack of previous data there is no scope of 
renewals. "In case of a lost license or a renewal, an applicant would 
have to apply afresh," says an officer in the RTO. While a former 
transport commissioner complains that the company has not met any of 
its contractual obligations till date, the SCL has even compromised 
on the quality and security requirements leaving a wide scope for 
faking and duplication.  

The regional transport offices of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar have 
lodged criminal complaints with the police on this count. Even the 
hand terminals which were to be provided by SCL to traffic 
authorities to read the microchips during checkings, have still not 
been made available.  

"We have issued notices some four months ago following which, the SCL 
has just showed us some model machines," says the official. A 
decision is yet to be taken on the chip readers.  

But despite being aware of all these irregularities, the state 
government has recently extended the contract of SCL. "We had no 
other option but to extend the contract in public interest", says 
former transport commissioner AM Tiwari, who granted extension to 
SCL, just before his tenure ended recently.  

"Till date we have no means to verify the violations being committed 
by SCL" laments an official, stating that the company has not even 
provided the copy of the software being used. Even Tiwari admitted 
that till date "no one in the department understands the clauses of 
the agreement and no one is aware of technology to check these 
discrepancies." The company has till date not produced records about 
the total licenses issued so far and the payments to them have just 
been released against vouchers.  

Unlike Gujarat, the Madhya Pradesh government has issued show-cause 
notice to the company for not adhering to licensing contract terms. 
The company's official in New Delhi Sanjay Dhalvadkar, however 
refused to comment on these allegations.  

Source: 
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articleshow?arti
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