In yet another instance of the mobile services medium offering a ideal mode to bring about m-governance, insurance regulator, IRDA is about a deploy a technology which makes use of SMS feature to ascertain whether a vehicle is insured on road or not.

Dubbed as Vehicle Insurance Status SMS System (VISSS) project, the solution aims to create database of motor policy information supplied by all insurance companies.  It will provide facility to police authorities to verify the insurance status of the vehicle.

Officers can now send the registration number through an SMS to the database and check whether the vehicle is insured. The status too will be relayed over SMS. For new vehicles, the chassis number needs to be sent.

Presently the vehicle owners provide a insurance certificate when asked about the insurance policy.

Current observations show that for 8 crore vehicles there are only five crore insurance policies in place suggesting that a significant number of uninsured vehicles ply on road.