Will BMTC smart card put privacy at risk?

Activists raise concerns about the additional financial burden to the government and the possibility of surveillance on citizens with the proposed smart card

The Karnataka government has geared up to launch Shakti—the free bus pass scheme for women, with much fanfare tomorrow. This is one of the five guarantees promised by the Congress ahead of polls. Bengaluru, with an estimated population of 1.3 crore people as per Aadhar data, will get the scheme through Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC). Women comprise 47 per cent of Bengaluru’s population as per the 2011 census.

The sole operator of public transport buses in the city has 6,600 in its inventory, but only 5,563 buses are being operated as of now. The BMTC, running under loss and short of funds, is figuring out the modalities of the implementation of the scheme, with no clue on the number of beneficiaries yet.

Two conditions to avail of the scheme—the requirement of women to be residents of Karnataka and making a smart card compulsory for free travel in future—have raised many concerns among activists.

BMTC managing director Sathyavathi G says the free bus scheme is a state scheme and even other states like Punjab have the same domicile requirement. Migrant women in Bengaluru will already have some kind of state government-issued identity card, be it voter id, Aadhaar, driving licence, pan card, BPL or APL card etc, showing which they can avail the benefits, she says.

No shortage of buses

“We do not have a shortage of vehicles. Some crew need to be hired, but that will happen eventually,” she says. The BMTC has placed orders for 840 diesel buses and 20 of them are running on a trial basis. There is also an order placed for 921 electric buses which will be operational by December, so accommodating the extra load of women will not be an issue, she adds.

Ranjith Parvathapuram, Senior Manager, World Resource Institute (WRI) India, says that the BMTC has enough fleet to accommodate the extra inflow of passengers, but it may have to add extra buses to avoid unnecessary quarrels in the buses.

“The already depleted BMTC fleet will soon feel the pinch. Without increasing the bus supply, full scheme benefits cannot be realised,” says Satya Arikutharam, a transport expert who works with the Directorate of Urban Land Transport.

Sources suggest that the government funds for the scheme can come in advance, and the reconciliation can happen later, in order to help the BMTC with cashflow for daily operations, as the corporation is running under loss already.

Gender ticketing to start

As of now, the BMTC does not have any data on women passengers as the tickets issued have never recorded gender. However, from June 11 onwards, BMTC will start recording women’s tickets separately. The expense BMTC will incur over free tickets for women is speculative as of now. Clarity can emerge after one month into the scheme, depending on the number of women users, says Sathyavathi.

Ranjith says tracking the travel pattern of women is important. “The anonymised ticketing data will also help the BMTC plan routes and deploy buses. No one has any data on women travellers which can turn crucial in planning women’s safety infrastructure and other facilities. Now the data on timing, source and destination generated can help get insights on issues and solutions and planning services better,” he says. WRI is working with BMTC on improving public transport.

However, the proposed Shakti Smart Card remains a cause for concern for many women.

“Anything that involves tech access for the beneficiaries will make it difficult for them to access the services. It will cause additional financial burdens as well,” says Vaidya R, a technology professional and a data enthusiast.

“BMTC’s history with technology has been extremely poor with no major results to show. In Delhi's free bus scheme, no such cards are needed and zero-value tickets are issued for women. This would be easy to implement,” he says.

NCMC vs Shakti smart card

NCMC, touted as ‘One Nation, One Card’, will help people travel in all cities of India where NCMC-compliant modes of transport are available. Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) launched this in March, but the BMTC is yet to find an affordable banking partner to launch NCMC.

Sources in the know estimate the expenditure to install validators in buses for NCMC at Rs 100-120 crore. But BMTC lacks funds for this.

“Issuing yet another card for the scheme is an onerous requirement and a needless administrative burden,” says Satya Arikutharam, a transport expert who works with the Directorate of Urban Land Transport.

Sources say that there is no call yet on whether the Shakti Smart Card will be separate or can be merged with National Common Mobility Card (NCMC). Meanwhile, Sathyavathi says there is no connection between the NCMC with the Shakthi card. Shakthi card, to be rolled out in a few months, will eliminate the need to show any other identity card as it is verified in the backend, she adds.

The regular zero-fare ticket will continue along with the Shakthi card and people can show other identity cards to avail of the ticket. “We will work with the Directorate of Electronic Delivery of Citizen Services that runs the Seva Sindhu portal and make sure everything goes fine,” says Sathyavathi.

Data privacy and smart cards

Vinutha, a project manager working with Sadhana Mahila Sangha, says that accessing smart cards via portals will make people extort money. The validity of the card is unclear, she says.

She flags tech glitches that can come in the way of utilising smart cards. “I use the Tummoc app for bus passes. It glitches due to internet issues or when my data is insufficient. In the bus, conductors get impatient when the Tummoc app isn’t working and during peak hour congestion. It only adds anxiety and trauma to the illiterate or non-tech-savvy people,” she says, highlighting the need for an offline system for giving tickets.

With smart cards, another concern is data privacy. “If personal travel data is generated through these cards, it will lead to an increase in gender-based violence. Many women find it hard to leave their houses. There are an unbelievable number of domestic violence cases and deaths. The digital footprint, if traceable, will put some women at risk,” she explains.

She points to cases where women are abused at home for delays in reaching home, and problems with the traceability of data. Smart cards will be issued through Aadhar linkage, and the data can be mapped to Aadhar numbers, she fears.

“If the government needs the data of women’s ridership and the distance travelled, the number of tickets issued plus to and from data from that ticket will give that information. The tickets will not violate the privacy of a person as they will not be linked to an individual’s records,” Vinutha adds. She and others have met Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy and have voiced their concerns, and say he has promised to act on them.

However, sources in the know say that the zero-fare ticket will not record the individual travel data of users. The to-and-fro data will be recorded in the Electronic Ticketing Machines and given to the women with zero fares while the fare will be calculated in the back end in order to help the BMTC claim money from the government against the issued tickets.

Personalised data is not recorded even in the Metro smart card, and the card is not mapped to any individual. However, this may not be the case with cards requiring documentation, like NCMC or Shakti Smart Card, hence concerns about privacy remain.

'The scheme to benefit 3 lakh garment workers'

In 2022, the Labour Department launched Vanitha Sangathi to provide free buses for garment workers. The project lacked interest from garment companies to fund it. They had to bear 60 per cent of the cost while the government would bear 40 per cent of it.

The project did not get enough patronage, and only 800-900 passes were availed in this scheme, says a BMTC official. There are about 3 lakh garment workers in the city.

“The scheme was a failure. Garment factories aim at making profits, they don’t even pay more than minimum wages. Most garment workers are paid Rs 10,400 per month. Why would they fund buses? The government asked labourers to apply with their human resource departments which will in turn fund and apply with the government. In fact, the labourers should have been asked to apply with the government.” says Pratibha R, president of the Garment And Textile Workers Union. She calls it a useless programme created to win brownie points on paper.

“In Bengaluru, most garment workers live within 2-3 km from the garment factories. They do not use BMTC to go to factories, they walk instead to save money,” Pratibha explains, adding that the previous scheme would have helped only 5-10 per cent of garment workers.

However, she feels the new Shakti scheme will help more garment workers as it is not limited to going to work. “Many women working in the Peenya area are from closeby rural areas and districts like Tumkur or Chitradurga and want to visit their homes. One such visit costs them Rs 2,000. They can now use KSRTC free,” she says. There are concerns about conditions attached to availing the scheme, availing of smart cards and problems if any will be known only after the implementation, she adds.