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In a bid to safeguard the privacy of the users, IRCTC draws out tender for hiring consultant to monetize Passenger Data.
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has called off the tender for hiring a consultant to monetize its delivery customer and passenger data.
On August 26, IRCTC informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology chaired by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor that it was no longer pursuing the tender, the officials added.
According to a report by PTI, the Parliamentary panel had called out officials of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) following on the tender for the appointment of a consultant for digital data monetization. IRCTC MD and Chairperson Rajni Hasija were deposed before the panel along with other officials.
As informed by a IRCTC official, "IRCTC has withdrawn the tender in light of the non-approval of the Data Protection Bill." This decision was taken at the IRCTC annual at a general meeting on August 26, before the panel hearing.
According to the tender document, the data to be studied will include information captured by the national transporter's various public-facing applications such as “name, age, mobile number, gender, address, e-mail ID, class of journey, payment mode, log in or password" and other details.
The IRCTC has more than 10 crore users, of which 7.5 crore are active ones.
The tender document, titled 'The Scope of Work for Project A:
For the study of Monetization of Digital According to the Data of Indian Railways (IR)', the consultant would also be provided access to the digital data systems which generate behavioral data such as flow of passengers, class of journey, frequency of journey, travel time, booking time, age group and gender, payment mode, number of destinations and booking modes.
Digital monetization is taking a complete view of the consumer. It deals with what you like, what products you buy, what makes you happy, and what will make you buy more.
