Free-mobile schemes in election states: Jio gets customers, govts get data

In the run-up to the Assembly polls, the Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan govts are distributing free smartphones to connect with over three-fourths of their populations and Jio has emerged as a key player

Ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the incumbent state governments have launched schemes to distribute free smartphones and internet connections to about 15 million families in the two states. The schemes would cover more than three-fourths of the population in both these states and help telecom companies sell phones, connections and data to millions of first-time users in rural parts, and they will get paid by the state governments for doing so.

In Chhattisgarh, where Reliance Jio has bagged the contract through an open tender to provide network to about five million families, the state government has ensured a SIM lock-in period of up to two years as part of the scheme — those who get these phones will have to necessarily use Jio SIMs on them for two years. To top that, the telecom company will get rent-free government land for 10 years to establish new towers and an option to run its e-payment services. The government will pay Rs 14.14 billion to the consortium of Jio and Micromax for supplying mobile devices and six months’ free data to users. 

An excerpt from the 'Request For Proposal' document of the Chhattisgarh Sampark Kranti Yojana

In Rajasthan, Jio has gained an early-bird advantage to sell its phones and connections, for which the government will route Rs 1,000 per connection and phone to the company through beneficiaries. Unlike Chhattisgarh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Rajasthan did not float a tender for procuring products for the 10 million families it is targeting under the scheme. Instead, it invited all telecom companies operating in the state to sell their products through government camps. Beneficiaries would get Rs 500 upfront in their accounts to buy phones and, upon registering their new phones, they would get an additional Rs 500 in their accounts for data. 

Though the scheme was opened to all operators, Jio got an early-bird advantage, with the state government’s first set of instructions to district administration under the ‘Bhamashah Digital Parivar Yojana’ asking for setting up of ‘Jio Bhamashah Program’ camps to sell Reliance Jio products. Other companies are also being encouraged by the government to do so, weeks after district magistrates were first ordered to set up camps at the block level to sell Jio products. 

Rajasthan is spending Rs 9.6 billion on the scheme — that is over 4 per cent of the state’s revised capital expenditure on development schemes for the year 2017-18. Chhattisgarh’s spending on mobile devices and data alone is much higher, at almost 12 per cent of its capex on development schemes last year. 

Officials of both state governments denied a passage of any undue benefits under the schemes to any company. A Reliance Jio official, speaking off the record, also denied having got any undue advantage. The company did not respond to formal queries sent on September 25.

State governments gain access and data 

Considering the data of Socio-Economic Caste Census, 2011, the mobile schemes would cover 81 per cent of total Chhattisgarh households and 77 per cent of total Rajasthan households. Currently, about 71 per cent of rural households and 26 per cent of urban households in Chhattisgarh do not have telephone connections — the state has the lowest mobile penetration. In Rajasthan, 32 per cent rural and 15 per cent urban households remain unconnected. These are the households set to become first-time mobile users through the schemes. 

Distribution of electronic appliances by incumbent governments before Assembly polls has been common in many states. But the smartphone schemes of these two states are unique as they allow the incumbent governments to constantly communicate with voters, even while collecting their individual data, in arrangement with the telecom companies. The two schemes’ documents show the states have an upper hand in asking telecom companies to pre-install mobile applications (apps) of their choices on these phones. 

Apart from the apps for delivering public services, the Chhattisgarh government also wants to install the apps for popularising “new initiatives... of the government” and “capturing citizens’ opinion/sentiment on various issues”. It has also pre-installed the Narendra Modi (NaMo) and the Raman Singh apps in these mobiles. Both are non-government apps showcasing the persona of the two political leaders — Narendra Modi as the incumbent prime minister and Raman Singh as the incumbent chief minister. These apps are promoted by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. 

The scheme documents show that the Chhattisgarh government will also be able to push new apps and updates into the phones over time, even after their distribution to beneficiaries. The state hopes to then employ analytics to draw “insights” from the data collected from these apps and store them on a separate server within Chhattisgarh. The Rajasthan government would collect users’ data from telecom companies after “discussing… data sharing” with them “individually”, show the documents. 

“Chhattisgarh comes last in the country in terms of the mobile penetration. Telecom companies were not willing to invest in network expansion as they did not see a viable business. We are giving additional benefits to the contractor (apart from paying the cost of mobile devices and data) to make their capex viable. The contract was awarded through (a) transparent tender process,” said Alex Paul Menon, chief executive officer of Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society (CHIPS), the state government body implementing the scheme.

In an emailed response to Business Standard, Rajasthan’s Information Technology (IT) and Communication department said: “Bhamashah Digital Parivar Yojana [the scheme] is not dependent on one operator. The scheme is open for all telcos and mobile manufacturers to come forward and provide opportunities to NFSA (National Food Security Act)-enabled beneficiaries to go digital with smartphone and data connections. All telecom operators have come forward with open hands and hearts to support the scheme.”

Officials in both the states also denied storing personal data of beneficiaries and the possibility of misuse of such data for political purposes. On being asked why the non-government apps NaMo and Raman Singh were pre-installed on mobiles in Chhattisgarh, Menon said: “The prime minister and the chief minister are not just politicians. They are constitutional entities, too. We have an app selection committee headed by the secretary in the IT department that has decided on the apps fit to be part of the scheme.” 

Advantage Jio?

On July 26, 2018, President Ram Nath Kovind launched the Chhattisgarh government's 'Sanchar Kranti Yojana' to provide smartphones and new connections to about 4.6 million rural and urban poor households, besides 0.4 million students. In the first round, about 3.1 million mobile phones are to be distributed before the model code of conduct for the Assembly election kicks in in October. 

The tender for supplying phones and data was floated thrice. While no company participated in the first round, only Airtel and Lava bid as a consortium in the second. “It was only in the third round, when the government added the clause for allowing a two-year SIM-lock-in period in phones to retain customers that the Reliance Jio-Micromax consortium participated in the bidding,” said a senior CHIPS official. In the final round on April 2, Jio-Micromax won the bid against Airtel-Lava. “While Airtel-Lava offered phones with the required specifications at about Rs 2,650 and Rs 4,550, Jio-Micromax offered the same specifications at Rs 2,250 and Rs 4,142, respectively” said the official. 

On September 4, 2018, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje announced the ‘Bhamashah Digital Parivar Yojana’ under the state’s umbrella Bhamashah scheme to provide social benefits to the poor. The scheme aimed to provide 10 million families registered under the National Food Security Act Rs 500 as support to buy a mobile phone and another Rs 500 for a data pack. According to the IT and Communication Department of Rajasthan, it published an Expression of Interest in newspapers inviting all telecom service providers and mobile brands to participate in the programme on September 3. 
 

Documents reviewed by Business Standard, however, show that weeks before this announcement the state had instructed district administrations to organise “at least” two camps in each block to distribute Jio’s phone and data plans as part of the company’s “Jio Bhamashah Program.” Such camps must be “compulsorily” organised between September 1 and September 30 in a “campaign” mode and a plan for the same must be submitted to the state by August 28, said a letter from the IT and communications department to all district magistrates. 

Though the letter mentioned that “various mobile operators” would be participating in the camps, it only detailed the “main features” of the ‘Jio Bhamashah Program’ “received at the time” and attached a list of contact numbers of Jio’s representatives who would contact the district magistrates “regarding the outline of the campaign”. “If a special scheme is received by any other mobile operator in future, it will be separately informed,” said the letter. The Caravan had first reported about this letter. A September-9 order of the Block Bhamashah Nodal Officer in Bassi block in Jaipur, reviewed by Business Standard, announced two “Mega Jio Smart Phone Distribution Camps” in the block on September 10 and 12 referring to the instructions from the higher authorities. 

An excerpt from the order of the Block Bhamashah Nodal Officer in Bassi, Rajasthan, for organising 'Mega Jio Smart Phone Distribution Camps'

The state has subsequently organised meetings with “all” telecom service providers and written letters to invite them to participate in the scheme. It has offered “co-branding” to the companies under the scheme, the documents show. The last letter to telecom companies BSNL, Airtel, Jio and Vodafone was written by the IT department on September 24. Business Standard had emailed queries to the department on September 20. 

An official in the department had told Business standard on September 20 that only Jio was offering the products at the government-supported price of Rs 1,000 in the camps. “Beneficiaries are free to buy mobile phones and connections from other companies by paying extra from their pockets. Every day, 200-300 camps were being organised across the state,” the official said. 

Prince Diamond, whose contact number was listed as JCM (Jio Centre Manager) in the list of Jio representatives sent to the district magistrates by the IT Department before the launch of the scheme, said on September 27: “Other companies are free to distribute the products in the camps but only Jio is doing the work. In the 161 camps that I have coordinated in the six tehsils in Chittaurgarh district, I have not seen any other company participating.” Diamond said the company was selling the Jio smartphone, whose market price is Rs 1,500, at Rs 500 in these camps. Only Jio SIM worked in the phone, he said. 

An excerpt from the Rajasthan IT department's letter to all district magistrates instructing them to organise camps for 'Jio Bhamashah Program'

Documents show that the central government has been involved in Rajasthan’s scheme. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) at the Centre allotted a special series of numbers to Jio, Vodafone and Airtel for the connections to be distributed under the scheme as a one-time exception. Reliance Jio did not respond to Business Standard queries on how much market penetration the company expected from the two schemes in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan and if the company thought it got any advantage over its competitors.

Data and elections

Both Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan have claimed that their scheme will be a game-changer in how the government services are delivered to citizens. To facilitate this, all new connections are being seeded with Aadhaar numbers and bank accounts of users before they would become operational. It is not yet clear how the Supreme Court judgment earlier this week — that linking of Aadhaar cannot be insisted upon for mobile connections and bank accounts — will affect this. 

According to the detailed project report (DPR) of its Sanchar Kranti Yojana, Chhattisgarh plans to build a data warehouse that would store and integrate data from “various department source systems”. The data from the apps installed on the new devices would also be stored on a server hosted at the “state data centre only”.

An excerpt from the detailed project report of the Chhattisgarh Sampark Kranti Yojana

The Rajasthan government told telecom operators at an August 29 meeting: “The telecom service provider shall share the data of the beneficiary (Bhamashah ID and mobile number and any app downloaded during the camp) with the department... Further discussions on sharing of data might be held individually.” 

According to the Chhattisgarh scheme document, the state would also establish an ‘analytics centre-of-excellence’ to help state departments in “information collection, exchange, integration, analysis, interpretation” for “effective governance”. Apart from the statistical analysis of the government scheme, this analytics centre would also be engaged in “social media analytics” for “analysis of unstructured data like citizen grievances, social media content and text from online news websites” and “predictive analytics” for “citizen sentiment analysis through various feedback channels” which “will help in effective pre-emptive action in scheme design and implementation.” The state would also be able to send SMS updates “based on household segments” on government policies. 

“There are several concerns regarding such data collection and its misuse during an election year. We don’t yet have a data protection law that can prevent such misuse. If the state is installing in these phones the NaMo App, which is promoted by a political party, what surety is there that the data are not used for politically targeted communication in the run-up to the election,” asked Raman Jit Singh Chima, lawyer and policy director at Access Now, a global digital rights non-profit. 

The fear of misuse of citizens’ digital data during elections has increased globally over the past few months, more since it emerged that the United Kingdom-based political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica mined social media data of individuals, without their informed consent, to use it for political campaigning. In India, political parties have been accused of misusing WhatsApp groups for running hate campaigns and spreading misinformation during elections.

WHAT’S ON OFFER 
 

Chhattisgarh: ‘Sanchar Kranti Yojana’ 

• Free smartphones and six-month data packs to 4.6 million rural and urban poor families, covering 81 per cent of the state’s total households
• 0.4 million college students to also get free phones and data
• 3.1 million phones and connections to be distributed before the model code of conduct kicks in in early October. The remaining would be give out before the central elections next year
• Phones will have two SIM slots. Only Jio SIM will work in one slot for two years
• Phones will come pre-installed with state government apps, including the BJP-promoted apps of Narendra Modi and Raman Singh

Rajasthan: ‘Bhamashah Digital Parivar Yojana’ 

• State to deposit Rs 500 as support for buying smartphones in the accounts of 10 million families registered under National Food Security Act, covering 77 per cent of states’ households
• Another Rs 500 will be deposited for buying six-month data packs once the new phone is registered in the scheme by installing state-government apps
• Jio is offering smartphones and data at lower prices through the government-promoted ‘Jio Bhamashah Program’ under the scheme. Only Jio SIM works in these phones
• Buyers can return the phone after three years and get their Rs 500 security money back
• Each eligible family can buy more than one phones and data plans from government-organised camps
• All government camps to be organised till September-end