Congress demands full disclosure on debit card data breach

The party ridiculed PM Narendra Modi over the potential breach of debit cards security

Ridiculing Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the potential breach of debit cards security, the Congress on Friday demanded full disclosure of the extent of the breach and compensation to the affected card holders.

Over three million debit cards issued by various public and private banks are said to have been exposed to a potential risk of data breach.

"This government has a habit of saying that it is the first in doing anything. Well, it is the first government to let lists of cardholders get stolen," Congress spokesman Ajoy Kumar told the media here.

"There are very few occurrences of this magnitude in the world. While these lists were being stolen, the nation's 'chowkidar' (watchman) Modi was sleeping," he said.

Besides demanding full disclosure of the data theft, Kumar said the central government must compensate card-holders who have suffered loss due to the security breach.

"We demand that the Modi government makes a full disclosure on the extent of this theft. They must inform all those affected."

"The common man, whose hard-earned money has been taken out of their accounts, should get back their money. The government must ensure that the banks compensate all card holders for their losses," said Kumar.

He said hackers in China, Russia, Indonesia and the US were behind the security breach.