MHADA to use biometrics to prevent property lottery fraud

The Maharashtra and Area Development Authority (Mhada) is considering deploying a biometric iris and finger scanning system to curb fraud regarding its annual lottery system for homes in the state.

Under the new system, lottery winners will submit biometrics to ensure that they can’t have already won and re-sell flats at an inflated price.

Reported in Mid-day.com, once flats are sold, owners cannot sell or rent it out for the next ten years. There have been several instances where agents, under the guise of genuine buyers, apply for flats and after winning, sell them at a profit.

“We are considering this option and may soon bring this to the table for further discussions with senior MHADA officials. This would help in curbing the menace of the agents who illegally sell MHADA flats to buyers,” an anonymous senior vigilance officer told Mid-day.com in an interview.

Biometrics is a popular tool to battle fraud and many systems currently exist with this capacity.

Reported in BiometricUpdate.com, immigration officials in Australia are using a facial recognition system to crack down on visa fraud and illegal workers as a part of a national identity fraud campaign.

At India’s Western Railway, a fingerprint verification system has been introduced to prevent a similar scam taking place by scalpers who buy multiple tickets and sell them at a high margin to commuters with no choice but to buy the inflated tickets.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  fraud prevention  |  India  |  iris scanning  |  national ID  |  secure identification