(MENAFN- Live Mint)

New Delhi: Taking a cue from the US, China, and Singapore, India plans to develop a radio-frequency identification or RFID-based tracking and monitoring system for school buses to ensure child safety, said two people directly involved in the process.

To let parents and school authorities track children in real time, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is developing a model to ensure safer travel for schoolchildren across the country, the first of the two people cited above told Mint.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs plans to conduct a research project through the BIS to create a standardized, IoT-based intelligent transport system model to ensure safer travel for schoolchildren across the country, said the second person. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity.

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The project draws on successful international examples where RFID and global positioning system (GPS) technologies are used to enhance student transportation safety. India has 248 million students across 1.47 million schools, according to the Economic Survey 2024–25.

Queries emailed to the consumer affairs ministry and BIS remained unanswered until press time.

Under the plan, an electronic system will record and track the boarding and alighting of students from designated bus stops to schools and back, the second person said.

Once implemented, it will mark the first time India introduces a nationally standardized system for school bus tracking and monitoring, which will address growing safety concerns associated with school transport, particularly in metropolitan and semi-urban areas

“The tags will be issued to students and installed in school buses along with RFID readers, GPS, GSM communication modules, and IP-based cameras. The system will automatically log when a child boards or leaves the bus, transmitting the data in real time to school authorities and parents through a connected platform," said the first person.

As of now, several private and premium schools in India, particularly in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, use GSM or GPS-based tracking systems integrated with school management apps that send alerts to parents when children enter or leave the school premises.

Ensure data security, say experts

According to cybersecurity expert and Supreme Court advocate Pavan Duggal,“When we use RFID, we need to consider cybersecurity perspectives seriously. This system will deal with the location data of children and school buses, which could be misused for illegal purposes if it falls into the wrong hands."

While introducing RFID chips for school buses is a good idea, the appropriate cybersecurity implications must be addressed, Duggal told Mint over the phone.“This data is directly connected with the personal and data privacy of children. Therefore, RFID service providers must ensure compliance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023."

All RFID service providers would also be classified as intermediaries under the IT Act so that they are required to maintain reasonable security practices and procedures under the IT Rules, 2021, he said.“These elements must be carefully considered before implementing the RFID system."

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Prabesh Choudhary, a cybersecurity expert and CEO and founder of Cryptus Cyber Security Pvt Ltd., called it a“good move for the safety of children", but also advised parents to take precautions while using the technology.

“The data collected will be stored on a central server, which must be secure. The application used by parents should ideally be accessed through a single device to maintain privacy and safety, and it should include two-factor authentication so that even if credentials are compromised, unauthorized access remains blocked," said Choudhary.

“There will be no privacy concern, as the data exchange will take place only between the school and the parents. Privacy would be breached only in the event of a hacking attempt," he said.

The people cited earlier said the project will address potential risks and implementation challenges, including data privacy, cost efficiency, and hardware compatibility.

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