Mumbai Cops Offer Lessons in Book Keeping to India Inc

Record challan data in XBRL format to keep tab on repeat offenders

The new financial reporting format for companies has found ready takers in Mumbai's traffic cops, who hope to use the electronic reporting tools benefit of real-time access to tighten screws on repeat offenders and fight crime. While Navi Mumbai police have started using XBRL to maintain an electronic database of the challans and entries in the day books, the government is mulling over extending its touted benefits to insurance companies to help them cut losses. Insurers face huge losses every year on account of their motor insurance business. Challans are entered manually by traffic constables, which is a cumbersome affair. We have started converting the data into XBRL so that it is easy to share and collect information within different traffic units in the city, deputy police commissioner (traffic) Vijay Patil told ET. One will be able to sort the data online by location, fine, vehicle etc, he added. XBRL (eXtensible business reporting language) is a global standard for easy exchange of business information between different government departments and regulators. In India, about 8 lakh companies are expected to file their financial statements using XBRL format over the next couple of years. The Mumbai traffic teams initiative was launched as part of the traffic safety week 2012.The initiative has huge implications not only for road discipline but also for fighting crime. The aim is to fully computerise the system for prompt and efficient management of the growing traffic woes, Patil said, adding that the new data management system would need better infrastructure and constables would need to be trained too. A well-managed database could prove to be useful to the insurance sector as well. Defective cars, not easily identified due to non-traceable variables such as owners driving style and accident history, are camouflaged as good cars to command lower insurance premiums. This problem can be tackled better with conversion of data to a standard electronic format. Data crunch is a reality in almost all sectors. We are looking at a prospective market for the assimilated data. For example, insurance companies will soon be using this data as it will help in fixing premiums, said S Swaminathan, CEO of Iris Business Services, the XBRL service provider to the Navi Mumbai Traffic Police.

Economic Times, New Delhi, 11-01-2012