Marking of attendance by the paramedical staff on the ‘MCD Smart Mobile Application’ is not arbitrary or unfair: Delhi HC

Recently, the Delhi High Court was hearing a plea filed by the Paramedical Technical Staff of MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) against a communication issued by the civic body on August 18, 2022. The notice directed that the salaries of all paramedical staff of the MVID and RBIPMT hospitals will be released only after they mark their attendance via the MCD Smart App through smartphones. The matter was heard by a single-judge bench of Delhi HC, Justice Chandra Dhari Singh. Justice Singh stated that the policy of marking attendance by the paramedical staff of MCD on the ‘MCD Smart Mobile Application’ is not arbitrary or unfair.

The order reads, “The present policy regarding the marking of attendance on the MCD SMART Application cannot be termed as arbitrary or unfair mainly for two reasons, Firstly, purchasing/possession of a smartphone is not a compulsion for all employees as the employees have alternate methods to mark their attendance and can opt to mark themselves present either through the supervisor or any other employee‟s phone. Secondly, the issue of privacy and security does not arise as the Application was not developed by an unknown source, but rather by a body under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology where the said body has already done due diligence with regards to the potential threats of a security breach.”

Moreover, the bench also illustrated the importance of technology in public sectors stating, “The advancement of technology has helped the public sectors in many ways, however, protesting against such advancement only shows the intent of the employees to not comply with the orders of the respondent MCD.” The petition was, therefore, dismissed by the bench.