PIL in Delhi High Court against leak of vehicle owners' personal info by mobile apps

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Central government to reply to a public interest litigation (PIL) raising concerns about the leak of sensitive personal information of vehicle owners through mobile applications [Gopal Bansal vs. Union of India & Ors.].

The petition said that there are certain mobile applications that allow public access to sensitive information related to any vehicle. This information includes insurance and finance related details.

Such sensitive information is easily accessible by only entering registration number of the vehicle and payment of a nominal fee, the plea noted.

Further, such information is so sensitive that it is even exempted from disclosure under Right to Information Act (RTI Act), the petitioner pointed out.

The petition calls for a halt in the operation of mobile applications involved in such data breaches of information, including information contained in the National Register of Driving Licences and the National Register of Registered Certificates.

The matter was briefly taken up by a Division Bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela on October 15.

During the hearing, the counsel for the National Informatics Centre (NIC) said that it has not granted permission to access such information to any of the mobile apps mentioned by the petitioner. It is unknown how information was leaked into public domain, he said.

“Maybe you never fathomed that this would happen, you never saw the loopholes. You cannot do anything about it now since it has come into public domain," Justice Gedela remarked.

The counsel assured that the Central government is taking these allegations very seriously and is enquiring into the matter. He also sought time for the government to file a response.

The Court has granted the Central government eight weeks to file its response and posted the matter for further hearing on February 19, 2025.

The petition before the Court has been filed by a lawyer, Gopal Bansal who raised concerns that sensitive data with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) was earlier being given to third-party entities under its now scrapped “Bulk Data Sharing Policy & Procedure” (BDS Policy). 

It is submitted that such information is still being sold by the government  under a new policy, namely the “Policy for Providing Access to Information from National Register – A Centralized Database of DLs & RCs” (NR Access Policy’).

He said that this breach was acknowledged by the Minister of Road Transport and Highways during his Parliament address, when he said that MoRTH has earned over ₹ 111 Crores by providing access to registration certificates (RCs) and driving licenses (DLs) database to private entities.

During the October 15 hearing, the counsel for the Central government Apoorv Kurup explained that there is a graded disclosure of information, depending on who is accessing the information.

First, the State transport authority, its departments and police authorities have unrestricted access, free of cost. Second, insurance companies having a valid registration with Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). Third, scheduled commercial banks under the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) receive certain information. Fourth, automobile manufacturers, who are given only limited details like engine number, chassi number etc. of the vehicles.

The petition seeks directions to MoRTH to set aside the NR Access Policy for providing access to information on the national register database. 

It also calls on the Union Ministry of Law and Justice to frame a proper law to protect information on this national register. 

Further, it is prayed that the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) be directed to stop the operation of mobile applications involved in the leaking such sensitive information.

Advocate Gopal Bansal appeared in person.

Central Government Standing Counsel Apoorv Kurup appeared alongside advocates Arnav Mittal, Shaurya Aggarwal and Gurjas S Narula for the Central government.

[Read Order]