Highlights
- IRCTC is planning to sell users data
- IRCTC is looking to monetise user data, seeking Rs 1,000 in revenue
- The IRCTC has also floated a tender in this regard
IRCTC Data Monetisation Tender: The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is seeking to generate revenue of Rs 1,000 crore as it plans to sell (monetise) user data including customer data of both passenger services as well as freight services.
According to reports, the ticket booking arm of the Indian Railways has floated a tender for appointing consultants for digital data monetisation.
In a tender IRCTC floated last month, “Indian Railways desires to monetise the data in customer/vendor applications and internal applications of Indian Railways… for generating revenues and also to enhance facilitation and further improve the services."
“IRCTC wishes to engage a consulting firm to help in identification, design, and development and roll-out of data monetisation opportunities,” it said in the tender.
Following this development, the value of IRCTC shares witnessed a rise from Rs 712 to Rs 746.75
According to Internet Freedom Foundation, "The consultant will be expected to study the data of Passenger, Freight & Parcel business as well as any vendor-related data from applications of Indian Railways."
"Per the tender, customer data to be studied includes, inter alia, 'Name, Age, Mobile No., Gender, address, E-Mail ID, No. of Passenger, Class of Journey, Payment Mode, Login/Password,' in addition to behavioural data such as payment & booking mode, frequency of journey, etc."
The tender suggests referring to the:
- IT Act, 2000 & its amendments
- User data privacy laws including the General Data Protection Regulation
- The current Personal Data Protection Bill 2018 of India!
Tasks listed for the appointed consultant include:
- Segregation of monetisable data sets
- Identification of market potential internationally
- Preparation of a road-map for data monetisation of the digital data
The Indian Railways has more than 100 terabytes of passenger data, according to reports.
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