IRCTC Officials Summoned by Parliamentary Panel Over Tender to Monetise Citizen Data

Top officials of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) have reportedly been summoned by a parliamentary panel. They will be questioned about a recent tender seeking to monetise digital data of the Indian Railways and the IRCTC. The Indian Railways had floated a tender to hire a consultant to monetise its passenger and freight customer data with the aim to generate revenue up to Rs. 1,000 crore. The tender was spotted by digital liberties organisation Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) earlier this month.

Citing a meeting notice issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, PTI reported that a parliamentary panel has called top officials of the IRCTC to question them about a tender seeking to monetise its passenger and freight customer data. The IRCTC officials are said to depose before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology that is chaired by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor.

Representatives of the social media platform Twitter are also expected to appear before the panel regarding the same issue.

A recent report had indicated that the tender may be withdrawn amid concerns over privacy issues.

To recall, the tender, which seeks to utilise the data from passenger, freight, and parcel trains, was spotted by digital liberties organisation Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) earlier this month. India currently does not have a data protection law to regulate the use of citizens’ personal information.