Auto industry, bodies can buy bulk vehicle data from next fiscal, says Govt

New Delhi: To 'support' the automobile industry, the government has come out with a policy where organisations and researchers can buy bulk data pertaining to vehicle registrations on an annual basis.

Eligible bodies can purchase the data for Rs 3 crore from the next fiscal and would be required to ensure strict security steps to prevent its theft or transfer, according to the policy approved by the government.

Violation of data, the policy warns, will result in action under the IT Act and other applicable laws besides debarring the agency from access to this data for a period of three years. As per the 'Bulk Data Sharing Policy & Procedure' issued earlier this month, sharing of vehicle registration data in a "controlled manner, can support the transport and automobile industry".

"The sharing of data will also help in service improvements and wider benefits to citizens & Government," the policy said.

The prime focus is on delivering simpler, better and safer services to citizens and sharing of data "will also benefit the country economy", the policy said.

"There have been continuous advances in technology and the range of purposes for which individuals and organizations want access to the DL&RC data. There has been growing demand to share the data for wider benefits." The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways collects and holds data as part of issuance of Vehicle Registration Certificates (RC) and Driver Licence (DL).

The ministry currently shares complete data with specified agencies such as enforcement agencies. The data is also shared with automobile industries, banks, finance companies etc at specified rates for each data set.

Earlier this month, the Road Transport and Highways Ministry has also announced going paperless and said driving licences and vehicle registration certificates will now be issued as plastic cards in a standard format across the country.

Under the new norms notified by the ministry, states would have an option to issue the two documents in the form of cards, which would be either made of PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) or of Poly Carbonate.

"A QR code has been prescribed on the cards. This would enable easy linking and access and validation of the information on the cards with the SARATHI or VAHAN database," the Ministry has said.

Recently, the ministry amended the Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989, enabling issuance and use of transport-related documents in an electronic form.

In the bulk data sharing policy the government has said that "Capture of old data on RC&DL (registration certificate & driving license) before the implementation of SARATHI and VAHAN has still not taken place. The possibility of a number of Vehicles having been transferred from one person to another or one location to another and the Driving License holders having relocated themselves without updating the database cannot be ruled out."

The policy makes it clear that under the circumstance, the Ministry is not in a position to ensure the sanctity of the data, which would be made available on "as-is-where-is" basis.