[sustran] Common Mobility Cards - Convenience for commuters or another surveillance device for the Big Boss

[Vinay Baindur]

FYI


    Dear all,


A trickle of media reports over the last year or so have been hinting about
a new single unified ticketing system or fare collection method being pushed
through various big and small cities. The Ministry of Urban Development
(MOUD), Government of India has been working on a programme to provide
'Common Mobility Cards' (CMC) for commuters in major cities around the
country. In simple terms CMC aims to provide seamless travel for individuals
across public transport facilities like buses and railways. When a commuter
buys a CMC card from an authorised vendor he may use it like London's
Oyster Cards and travel from place to place without actually buying separate
tickets for each journey. (For more information on Oyster Cards click on:
https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/entry.do)   The applicable fare for the
journey will be deducted by ticket collectors using computerised
machines. Your card will allow you to travel only as far as the card value
permits you. Of course these cards can be topped up at the notified service
providers. We are told Jaipur has already started implementing this system
(for news clippings click here:
http://www.utiitsl.com/forms/CMCLaunchJaipur.pdf). Bengaluru and a host of
other cities are next in line. So a commuter need not bother about carrying
loose cash or coins any more if CMC is operationalised. Eventually the
programme seeks to make the CMC valid across cities and States. The same
card can be used for paying parking fees and also tolls on highways and
pay-and-use roads.

*Is this not a cool, convenient and efficient system? So why crib?:*
**
*CMC links directly to personal data protection which in turn links to
personal security and every person's fundamental right to privacy guaranteed
under Article 21 by the Constitution of India.*
When CMCs become fully operational *every journey of mine and yours using
CMC cards *- from point of origin to destination anywhere in India will be
recorded in a database which will be manned by a central agency. Every
transaction of ours using a CMC card will be recorded with that agency. CMCs
are expected to be expanded to allow for payment of tolls on highways. And
of course law enforcement agencies will have access to this database in the
name of looking out for terror suspects. NATGRID has already been
established to provide such background check services for any individual for
law enforcement agencies. *All this is happening on a canvas where two
crucial elements are absent:- *
 **
*a)* *absence of a**legal framework for protecting the individual's right to
privacy*. Please note that unlike the right to information (RTI) which is an
implied right under Article 19(1)(a) currently available only to citizens,
the right to privacy is an implied right under Article 21 (the right to life
and liberty) which is available to any person within the jurisdiction of the
Indian State. So the right is available to a much larger set of people.; and


*b) something even more basic**- people's right to know more about CMCs*. Is
there citizen-friendly information about CMC anywhere on the MOUD website?
Apart from a brief compilation of documents in complicated technical
language available at MOUD's website there is very little information in the
public domain about CMC cards. I am told this compilation was prepared for
the RFQ process initiated by MOUD (for these documents please click on:
http://urbanindia.nic.in/programme/ut/CMCandAFCSystems.pdf). CMC is a new
system that will collect data about every individual who uses CMC cards as
explained above. So it will affect every commuter in the country. Yet MOUD
has not thought it fit to comply with Section 4(1)(c) of the Right to
Information Act, 2005 which mandates every public authority to publish facts
and figures while announcing important decisions or policies. This is a
major poliy decision which has not received as much attention as it should.
*Agencies such as NATGRID, CBI and National Investigation Agency which will
have enormous use for this database have also been kept out of the RTI Act
by the Government of India this year.*

Information about CMC type programmes should ordinarily be available in the
annual reports of the concerned ministries. This is a statutory requirement
under Section 41)(b)(xi) of the RTI Act. yet only one biref para  (para
#7.4.3) is devoted to this subject in the Annual Report of MOUD (click here
to access the full report:
http://urbanindia.nic.in/quickaccess/ann_report/2010_2011/AR2010-11_English.pdf
All
that it tells us about the hirning of UTI Technology Services Ltd., Mumbai,
a publis sector enterprise udner the FInance Ministry to roll out this
programme across india. UTITSL, incidentally is responsible for issuing
Income Tax PAN Cards across India.

*Who authorised the commencement of the CMC programme?*
There is no indication if there was a Cabinet decision on this subject. A
press release issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) in August 2011
quotes a reply given by the Minister of State for Urban Development in
response to a question raised by an MP in the Lok Sabha
(for the text of the PIB press release click here:
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=75364)
(for the text of the question and answer tabled in parliament click here:
http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/psearch/QResult15.aspx?qref=109896)

The answer given by the Minister indicates that CMC is being proposed for
rollout in 2011-2012. But is not 'public transport a subject on the State
List ( List II) of the 7th Schedule of the Constitution? Yes it is. This is
why no separate budgetary allocation is being made for the CMC programme.
Instead CMC is being made part of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban
Renewal Mission (JNNURM) under which assistance is provided by the Central
Government to the States. Any public transport authority who wishes to buy
low floor buses will have to implement this CMC system. Does JNNURM website
have any detailed information on CMC? I tried hunting for it, but came up
with digital crumbs, not a wholesome sandwich describing the programme in
simple terms. Perhaps you may have better luck. All that I know is that one
para (para #21) from the National Urban Transport Policy drafted in 2006
talks about a single ticketing system
(for the complete text of the policy click on:
http://urbanindia.nic.in/policies/TransportPolicy.pdf) and the CMC has
evolved out of this para.

*CMCs will become compulsory*
The MOUD's service level benchmarks for urban transport under JNNURM include
performance of States in implementing the Integrated Ticketing System (see
para 1.4 and further on in the document accessible at:
http://jnnurm.nic.in/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/SLB-Urban-Transport.pdf) So
while as citizens we have not yet debated the desirability of CMC, it has
become compulsory for the States implementing JNNURM projects. *Later we
will be compelled to use CMCs or go settle down to walking wherever we want
to go*. *We are compelled to provide a range of personal data including our
movements without any control over who will have access to that data and in
what manner will it be used by which agency. The Draft law on the Right to
Privacy leaked last year from one of the GOI's Ministries is more about
empowering the State to conduct intensive and extensive surveillance and
less about giving an individual control over his/her personal data held by a
public or private agency.*

*Cost of implementing CMCs*
I am not a technological expert. I pay my taxes. So I would like to know how
much this roll out of CMC will cost us. A look at the RFP documents reveal
that the infrastructure requirement is huge. Millions of fare collection
machines will be required to make the CMC operational. So the small number
of companies making such machines will rejoice. We do not even know who they
are. We do not know how much CMC roll out will cost the exchequer in every
State. Nobody has bothered to inform us yet. There are other social costs as
well. All meter-making companies for threewheelers (autorickshaws) and taxis
will eventually shut shop because CMC will be made applicable to such modes
of transport as well. We do not now if the same companies will make the
automatic fare collecting machines. Techno-experts may have many other
queries about the viability of the CMC programme. I leave it here for now.

*Effectiveness of CMCs*
While surfing for news about CMCs I stumbled upon a news article in the DNA
about the alleged failure of such a system in Mumbai. The story is available
at:
http://www.dnaindia.com/speakup/report_mumbai-s-experiment-with-smart-card-fails_1447695

So while convenience must be created for commuters it is always better to
look before taking the leap. People must be informed first about the pros
and cons of the system before States and public transport authorities are
compelled to adopt CMC programme. Legal safeguards for ensuring safety and
security of personal data
must be put in place. Any person using the system must have access to and
control over the data about him/her that is held by any agency participating
in this programme. This requires extensive debate at all levels throughout
the country. Is anybody listening? Big Boss is watching of course.

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Thanks
Venkatesh Nayak
 *Programme Coordinator*
*Access to Information Programme*
*Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative*
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