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IRCTC cancels bid to monetise passenger data amid privacy concerns
Digital rights advocacy groups had panned the proposal on the issue of breach of citizens' data security and privacy.
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) on Friday informed a parliamentary standing committee that it will abort the tender issued for hiring a consultant to monetise its passenger and freight customer data.
Amid widespread concerns over privacy, the Railways' catering and ticketing arm apprised the standing committee on information technology headed by Congress leader and parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor that the tender was no longer being pursued.
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This comes after the panel had summoned officials of the Indian Railways along with top executives of social media giant Twitter on the issue of citizens' data security and privacy.
"IRCTC has withdrawn the tender in light of the non-approval of the Data Protection Bill," said an IRCTC official before the panel. However, the decision to withdraw the tender was taken at the body's annual general meeting, before the panel hearing, as reported by PTI.
The tender had proposed to study, data including “name, age, mobile number, gender, address, e-mail ID, class of journey, payment mode, login or password", along with other details. The plan, unveiled as a tender, called for consultants to study the data with an aim to generate a revenue of Rs1,000 crore.
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Railways officials had told HT about the tender being taken back despite the request for proposal (RFP) being issued. “Railways may not go ahead with the process due to issues related to data protection laws,” an official had said, requesting anonymity.
The proposal had attracted backlash from digital rights advocacy groups on sweeping scope in the assessment the consultant was meant to carry out and the data that would be opened up. "IRCTC, a government-controlled monopoly, must not prioritise perverse commercial interests over the rights and interests of citizens. And given the recent withdrawal of the Data Protection Bill, 2021, such monetisation becomes even more concerning,” read a statement issued by non-profit Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF).
