Kamal Soi, Chairman of Punjab-based NGO Raahat, during a press conference in Hyderabad showed the formal complaint against Smart Cards being used for RCs by Road Transport Authority which will jeopardize our national security. A Punjab based non-government organization has raised concerns about the issuance of Smart Cards in Telangana for Vehicle Registration Certificate (RC) and Driving License by the State Road Transport Authority. According to Kamal Soi from Raahat, an NGO, these cards’ are said to have weaknesses through which data can be breached thus calling for an investigation into SCOSTA compliant chips that are not being used in Telangana’s cards.
“After one of our former employees brought this matter to my attention I filed a complaint with the Transport Department on May 8 over its “fake, substandard and non-complaint chips.” The same was also forwarded to the Telangana Transport Minister,” said Mr. Soi.
The chairman of Raahat says that this might have been a ₹25-30 crore fraud case due to usage of cheaper Chinese chips which are potential threats for data breach and hacking.
Five such copies numbered 2024 were those identified by the whistleblower where they did not contain SCOSTA as is mandated by NIC.
“We took it up with the state transport department but after being promised an investigation post polling on May 13th we have since been completely ignored as our calls are never picked,” added Mr. Soi adding that “Our next step as an organization would be to move High Court.”
The company had won a contract basis tender for printing PVC smart cards from February 2023 till February 2024 within the state transport department. Till date, fifty lakhs such cards sold by this firm has already been issued within this state.
According to insiders quoting reports, at least ₹32 were spent on each chip given out on tender to them. “These chips which make these cards go for ₹3-4 only and the SCOSTA compliant chips would cost around ₹27-28. These frauds could also be driven by the desire to make money alone hence making the cards more susceptible to being hacked or data breach,” explained Mr. Soi. Of note, this same informant had earlier made similar allegations against them in Gujarat and Bihar states in India.
