Blockchain in Mauritius for the National Transport Authority

Blockchain in Mauritius has many use cases. In this post, we will see how a current crisis could have been averted with the use of the Blockchain technology. The National Transport Authority (NTA) is a department operating under the aegis of the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and Land Transport in Mauritius. Among its most important responsibilities are the management licensing of public service vehicles and goods vehicles. Lately, it has faced a lot of backlash with fraudulent practices which resulted in corrupted officers issuing unauthorised licenses to vehicles. The National Transport Authority has been plagued with malpractice for quite some time. In this post, we will envisage a blockchain-based system which could eliminate all these problems.

Crisis at the National Transport Authority - Analysis of the problem

The process of getting a license for a vehicle could be summarized in the following steps:

1. potential licensee submits an application,
2. upon receiving the application, the National Transport Authority starts processing the information which includes,
3. checking the submitted documents and cross-checking the information which has been submitted,
4. and finally either issue a license or deny the issuance.

This is a very classic way of issuing licenses. Each step is dependent on the completion of the previous step. However, the most important step is the final one, where a decision is taken on whether a license is issued or not. At this stage, there is a lack of transparency and information.

Use Blockchain to record driving licenses

The blockchain technology could be used to streamline processes and increase transparency over all the steps required to come to a conclusion concerning the issuance of a license. The proposed alternative system would require the use of a blockchain-based system which will record all the different intermediate process outcomes and would work in the following way:

1. A potential licensee makes an application using an online platform with all the information that is required.
2. The applicant then either submits the required documents online or personally goes to the NTA offices to submit the documents.
3. The documents are validated and entered on a DMS which tracks all the flow and logs the officers who accepted and validated the documents.
4. Each step in the workflow of the National Transport Authority is recorded in a smart contract.
5. Each of these records is signed by an employee in the NTA, which creates a definite proof that someone actually pushed these information.
6. Upon accepting the application, the records of the license are stored in the same contract and signed by the officer delivering the license. This again provides an undeniable proof of the issuance of the certificate or license.
7. To verify the authenticity of the license or certificate, police officers or NTA officers will use a mobile app to scan and verify licenses or certificates from the drivers.
8. The verification would be done directly on the blockchain and will return absolute proof that a license or certificate is valid.
9. If any problem is encountered, the NTA will still reserve the right to revoke licenses obtained illegally.

Advantages of using Blockchain in Mauritius for issuing NTA licenses

The blockchain-based system allows for more transparency and virtually restricts all types of outside interference. This is ensured by the requirement for NTA officers to actually digitally and cryptographically sign each and every action pertaining to an application. This introduces a real-time auditing system and eliminates most forms of corruption or fraudulent actions.