IRCTC withdraws tender on data monetisation

Indian Railways’ catering and ticketing arm Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has withdrawn a controversial tender — which proposed hiring a consultant to monetise a bulk of its passengers’ data — since the government has withdrawn the data protection Bill.

The tender had alarmed activists who said it could lead to a violation of privacy of people who have used IRCTC’s services since it sought to analyse data points like their names, contact numbers, addresses and even “login/password” credentials. In a notification to stock exchanges on Friday, IRCTC said it was withdrawing the tender since the Centre has withdrawn the “Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018”.