TS Polls: Can e-wallets be used to send money to voters?

E-wallets and mobile payment applications have caught the fancy of public in urban and rural areas alike. It’s a convenient way to send money from one’s e-wallet to another or even directly to a bank account. With elections around the corner, speculations are rife if they can be used to send money to voters and bribe them. 

Reports of electronic bribing of voters first emerged during Karnataka Assembly elections earlier this year. “There are limited ways to detect if contestants are using e-payment methods to bribe voters,” admits additional DGP Jitender. “We are, however, discussing ways to intensify checks on money distribution,” he said. Security researchers, meanwhile, say there are systems to detect such transaction. “It can be cracked using fraud detection algorithms. However, only Reserve Bank of India has access to this data,” says security researcher Srinivas Kodali. Additional DGP for cyber crimes KCS Raghu Vir says his department has not received any complaints so far of this nature. At a time when data privacy itself is a serious concern, will politicians risk leaving behind a dirty trail online? We will know soon.