Mumbai police to use digital smart identity cards to curb frauds

The police department will be the first among government departments in the state to start using digital smart cards

Mumbai: Following the rise of cases involving fake identity cards, the Maharashtra government is set to provide digital smart cards to all policemen of the Mumbai police commissionerate. The state home department passed an order on Thursday approving four crore for this transition.

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The Mumbai police commissioner had requested the state government to allow them to shift to digital smart cards and a government resolution issued by the state home department said that the allotted sum was to “make digital smart cards for all the employees in the police force, right from police officers to police constables.”

According to the order, there are 51,308 posts in the entire police force and they all use printed cards, which are easy to forge using a desktop publishing operator. Due to this, people are duped by fake police cards, and there has been an increase in ‘digital arrests’ where fraudsters impersonate law enforcement officials via video or phone calls to intimidate victims and extort money.

The order adds that the police department will be the first among government departments in the state to start using digital smart cards. The home department has asked the police force to use the latest technology for making smart cards, and to conduct random inspections before and after their implementation.