Cops lock horns with transport dept over data sharing

There is a tiff brewing between the state transport department and the city police over access to the database on vehicles.

There is a tiff brewing between the state transport department and the city police over access to the database on vehicles.

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While the police say they do not get quick access to the data about vehicle registered with the regional transport offices, the transport department says it can’t give complete access to its information.

Currently, in case of any accident, theft or if a vehicle or its owner is found to be suspicious, the police send someone to the respective RTO for getting details.

“This process is very time consuming. So we have requested the transport department to give us direct access to their data so that we don’t have to wait for the offices to open, especially during an emergency or in the night,” said R Vatkar, spokesperson, Mumbai Police.

However, the transport department is reluctant to share its data.

Sources in the department said the police wanted complete access to the information, which was not possible. “We cannot let any agency, even if it’s another government agency, to allow copying the information. What if it is misused? We are ready to make the database a read only folder,” said a senior transport official on condition of anonymity.

Higher ups in the department have also informed the chief secretary about the problem of sharing information.

Transport officials said they were now creating a backup on their website which would give the vehicle number, owner’s name and address.

“Nearly 70 per cent of the data on private vehicles has been uploaded. Details on public transport such as buses, trucks and tempos would be put up soon,” said Dilip Jadhav, transport commissioner.

The department is also mulling over the idea of allowing the general public to view these details on the website.