We missed this earlier. Late December, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways made it possible for anyone to send an SMS to 7738299899 with the message ‘VAHAN’ and a vehicle number, to fetch the name of the owner, vehicle name, RC/FC expiry date and motor vehicle tax paid upto time, reports the Times of India. Other than this, the agency will also let anyone authorize the holder of a driving license, by sending ‘SARDL’ and the license number to 8790499899. The report mentions that there is a web application for the same, however we couldn’t find it. Messaging to the number did return the details of the vehicle holder, as mentioned above. Interestingly, a Vahan website hosted by the NIC mentions that paid services will be offered to stakeholders like banks, insurance companies, transporters and even individual employers, which gives them access to a nationwide search over the digitized data of registered vehicles. This includes (pdf) address, engine no, chassis no, class of vehicle, permit type and various other details of the owner and the vehicle. However, it's unclear if these third parties will be able to use the information for advertising or marketing purposes. Interestingly, the Information and Broadcasting ministry had launched a free news SMS services in five languages, over the same phone number used by transport authorities to fetch an owner's name, back in September 2014. The news service provides news to subscribers in their preferred language from AIR News Services division. Previous privacy violations: -…
