The Delhi High Court Upholds Validity Of App-based Attendance System For Paramedical Staff

CASE TITLE:

PARAMEDICAL TECHNICAL STAFF WELFARE ASSOCIATION OF MCD vs GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI & ANR.

DATE OF ORDER:

20^th Decemeber,2023

BENCH:

HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE CHANDRA DHARI SINGH

PARTIES:

Plaintiff: PARAMEDICAL TECHNICAL STAFF WELFARE ASSOCIATION OF MCD

Respondent: GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI & ANR.

SUBJECT:

5. The Paramedical Technical Staff Welfare Association of MCD filed a petition against the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) policy requiring the use of the MCD SMART App for recording daily attendance, but the High Court of Delhi dismissed the petition. The court decided in the government's favor, highlighting the judicial review's narrow purview when it comes to matters pertaining to policy choices.

OVERVIEW:

5. In this writ case, respondent no. 2/Municipal Corporation of Delhi ("MCD") employs "para medical technical staff," whose interests are represented by the petitioner Association, a registered union. Respondent MCD issued an order on August 18, 2022 (the "impugned order" henceforth) directing that all workers at RBIPMT and MVID hospitals, including members of the petitioner association, would not be eligible for their salaries until they had verified their daily attendance using the MCD SMART App (henceforth referred to as "the Application") on their smartphones. The pertinent section of the order is as follows:
5. "All employees of RBIPMT and MVID hospitals are hereby again directed to ensure marking of their daily attendance on MCD SMART App, in accordance with circular no DCA/(HQ)/MCD/2022-23/D-193 dated 01.08.22. Employees who are having trouble using the MCD app to record their attendance can contact the IT department on the 24th floor of the Civic Center for assistance.
5. According to the aforementioned circular, August 2022 salary paid in September will be disbursed in accordance with MCD Smart App attendance’’
5. Relevant text from the previous order, which was issued on August 1, 2022, is as follows:
5. "A certificate stating that the salary bill has been prepared in accordance with the attendance noted on the MCD Smart Mobile App should be recorded by all DDOs." Only the certificate noted by DDOs on Salary Bills should be used by the Pay & Accounts Offices to release the August 2022 salary that was paid in September 2022.
5. On August 5, 2022, the petitioner Association sent a written representation to respondent MCD criticizing this order and asking the respondent to address the numerous complaints brought up by its staff about the viability of complying with these orders.
5. The petitioner has chosen the current petition because they are upset that the respondent hasn't responded to their requests.
5. In the course of the proceedings, this Court issued an interim order on September 12, 2022, directing respondent MCD to make sure that petitioner Association employees' salaries are not withheld because they are unable to mark their attendance in the MCD SMART App.The pertinent paragraph from the interim order said that:
5. Respondent No. 2 will make sure, up until the next date, that the petitioner/union's employees' salaries are not withheld because they are unable to record their attendance using the MCD SMART App on a smartphone.

ARGUMENTS ADVANCED BY THE PETITIONER

5. On behalf of the petitioner, learned counsel argues that respondent MCD issued the contested order/policy without investigating its viability or testing the new app-based attendance system. All employees must have a smartphone that is up to date and have access to a reliable internet connection in order to use the MCD SMART App.
5. It is argued that the majority of the employees to whom the aforementioned policy is being applied fall into the Group C and D categories, which are characterized by unstable finances. These workers lack smartphones and are unaware of how to use the MCD SMART App on their devices.
5. It is further claimed that there is a network problem on the hospital grounds and that there is unstable Wi-Fi, which prevents the staff from using the application and results in their being reported missing from work.
5. It is argued that the MCD SMART App is not accessible through the official Play Store or any other official app store, and that because of its unreliable source, many employees' bank account information and phone numbers may be accessed through it. Consequently, compelling employees to install the aforementioned application jeopardizes their security and jeopardizes their basic right to privacy.
5. It is hereby submitted that the employees have not been given any alternative means of keeping track of their attendance. The employees have asked the respondent to install or fix a fingerprint scanner on multiple occasions so that attendance can be tracked, but the respondent has not complied.
5. Therefore, the petitioner asks that the current writ petition be granted and that the requested relief be given.

ARGUMENTS ON BEHALF OF THE RESPONDENT:

5. Contrarily, the learned counsel representing the respondents fiercely objected to the current petition, arguing that since the applicants work in the healthcare industry and prioritize patient care, the application was brought in to help employees develop a sense of discipline.
5. The submission posits that employees have multiple options for recording their attendance, negating the need for them to buy smartphones because they can use their supervisor's phone to do so.
5. It is proposed that a different employee, acting in the capacity of a "parent employee," may use their phone to record the attendance of coworkers who are mapped to them. Therefore, it is not required that every employee have a smartphone.
5. It is claimed that there is only one menu flow in the application and that no specific training is needed to mark attendance. Moreover, the webpage itself has an application usage guide available.
5. It is stated that the National Informatics Centre (NIC), a division of the MEITY, Government of India, created and developed the application specifically. CERT-in agencies have conducted security audits for the application, which is hosted on the NIC Cloud platform.
5. It is submitted that other respondent MD employees have been using this application for more than two years without receiving any complaints.
5. It is submitted that the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) App, which is used by the Government of India, has implemented an app-based attendance scheme for NREGA workers. The worksite supervisors are in charge of using the app to geotag employee photos and record attendance.
5. Additionally, it is submitted that Telangana has implemented GPS-based attendance for both teaching and non-teaching staff in local body and government schools. Furthermore, it is submitted that the government of Jammu and Kashmir has implemented an online teacher feedback form and a GPS-based attendance system, both of which are functioning well in their respective states.
5. Therefore, in an effort to discourage needless litigation, the respondent requests that the current writ petition be dismissed and that the petitioner be subject to significant costs.

JUDGEMENT ANALYSIS:

5. According to Justice Chandra Dhari Singh, enforcing accountability and fostering discipline among employees were closely related to the MCD's decision's implementation.
5. The Court further noted that it is "unequivocally" possible to characterize the decision as a step toward bettering the healthcare system.
5. "In this instance, the executive decision in question pertains to health sector workers, wherein the employee's lack of discipline may have a direct impact on the efficient operation of hospitals managed by the respondent MCD," the statement continued.
5. The Court also noted that a situation that could impair the efficient operation of the entire healthcare system could arise from the absence of employees tasked with managing it.
5. The MCD employees' union, the Paramedical Technical Staff Welfare Association, had contested the app-based attendance policy in the High Court. The Rajan Babu Institute of Pulmonary Medicine and Tuberculosis (RBIPMT) and the Maharishi Valmiki Infectious Disease (MVID) Hospital are both managed by the municipal organization.
5. The main contention presented to the Court was that the policy was being applied to employees who did not possess smartphones and were not familiar with using the MCD Smart App. 
5. The Court was also presented with privacy and app security concerns.
5. Justice Singh did come to the conclusion, though, that the choice to impose app-based attendance was neither capricious nor unfair.
5. The Court stated that employees can record their attendance using other methods, so owning a smartphone was not a requirement. The Court noted that workers had the option to use the supervisor's phone or any other worker's phone to indicate their presence.
5. Therefore, the Court dismissed the claims that workers were being forced to download the app or that their inability to use a smartphone or their lack of technical expertise was preventing them from arbitrarily recording their attendance.
5. Regarding the privacy and security argument, the Court pointed out that the National Informatics Centre, a division of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, developed the app and that security audits had been carried out for it.
5. The Court stated, "Therefore, the petitioner's learned counsel's submission that the Application was created by an unknown or unreliable source is rejected."
5. The Court further pointed out that Telangana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, and Andhra Pradesh had previously implemented a comparable system. In light of this, the Court concluded that the MCD's choice was lawful.
5. "The goal desirable for any public entity is to ensure the efficiency and transparency of state departments' operations as well as the timely delivery of services and welfare schemes to the public," the Court reasoned in its introduction of the system.
5. It further stated that protesting against technology advancements only indicates that employees intend to defy official orders, despite the fact that technology has greatly benefited the public sector.

CONCLUSION:

5. One of the most important issues for any country is the public health care system, where the administration strives to give the recipients access to all necessary services.
5. As a result, a situation that could impair the system's overall effectiveness could arise from the absence of employees responsible for managing the aforementioned system.
5. It is impossible to characterize the current attendance marking policy on the MCD SMART Application as arbitrary or unfair for two main reasons: Initially, it is not mandatory for all employees to purchase or own a smartphone; they have other options for recording their attendance and can choose to use their supervisor's phone or any other employee's phone. The second point is that the application was developed by a body under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, which has already conducted due diligence on potential security breach threats, so privacy and security concerns are not raised.
5. As a result, the current petition is denied because it lacks merit.
5. Any pending applications are likewise rejected.
5. The judgment will be immediately posted to the website.