Railways takes OTP route, bets on smart-locks to stop theft from parcel vans

In the current system, if the sealed lock of a parcel van or a wagon is found tampered with, Railway has to get personnel from the Railway Protection Force, the Commercial department, and also a member of the consignee present to inspect the goods. This takes hours, and also results in detention of trains.

The new locks are programmed in a way that they do not open anywhere other than the intended destination. An OTP is sent to an app, which opens the lock.

The trial of the device, which costs approximately Rs 10,000 apiece, has taken place in Howrah Division in South Eastern Railway. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw is learnt to have given a go-ahead for deployment of the new tech.

The division is in the process of calling for tenders for 45 wagons to begin with. In trial, the companies manufacturing these locks have reportedly said that they are indestructible.

Typically, an LED panel shows numbers and a numbering keypad is all that is visible from outside the wagon, and the lock itself stays installed inside an steel casing. “We will fit these in all Rajdhani Express trains in the beginning and then scale up. The cost will come down only when we proliferate it,” a senior Railways ministry official told The Indian Express.

The ‘smart locks’ are not uncommon in containers carried by trucks. However, the Railways has never looked beyond its existing system of using sealing wax. In theory, if the seal is found intact upon arrival, the goods inside are considered not pilfered.

However, pilferage is common — every year, the Railways catches many outsiders for pilferage following complaints that less goods than the quantities booked reached destinations. There have also been recorded incidents of pilferage of petroleum products in transit on Railways. An official said the new lock can be used in all kinds of systems as a step against such incidents.

“This will also avoid holding up rakes at destinations,” the official said.

The move comes at a time when Railways has bet big on parcel business. It has recently launched the Gati Shakti Express cargo service in collaboration with India Post and plans to run 12 pairs of this service every week from across India. The parcel cargo business, as per independent market analysis, is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10.5% by 2028.