Gemplus delivers Smart chip for India's vehicle registration

By agencies   |   Monday, 04 April 2005, 19:30 IST
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BANGALORE: Luxembourg based Gemplus International S.A. Europe’s largest provider of smart card-based solutions, has announced that it has delivered over 100,000 GemSCOSTA optical smart cards to New Delhi in the first phase of India's vehicle registration card program. India's smart card-based program for vehicle registration and drivers license is one of the world's largest of its kind, with a market potential of over 100 million cards issued nationwide over the next five years. India's vehicle registration program has initially been rolled out in the States of New Delhi and Gujarat, and will be shortly followed by Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Together the four State Governments aim to issue a total of 30 million cards to vehicle owners by 2008, with several other States to follow. The SCOSTA smart chip from Gemplus (GemSCOSTA) will securely store statutory data about the vehicle, its registration and the owner, while the card body will have basic cardholder data printed on them. Information about vehicle history, pollution control certification and other vehicle documents, are stored on the optical strip. Gemplus is working closely with local BOOT(2) project contractor and system integrator, Shonkh Technologies Int'l Ltd, who will manage all implementation work. "We are pleased to be working with the world's leading smart card company, and the first International manufacturer who was certified to meet India's SCOSTA specification," said Vivek Nagpal, Chairman of Shonkh Technologies International Limited. "By using smart card technology in combination with optical cards we are able to deliver the most advanced vehicle registration system in the world, helping the Indian Government to reduce the queues and manual paperwork normally associated with this service.”