DHRUVA framework

Why in News?

• May 2025: Department of Posts proposed DHRUVA (Digital Hub for Reference and Unique Virtual Address).
• Government released:
  • Draft amendment to the Post Office Act, 2023 to legally enable DHRUVA.
• Follows the launch of DIGIPIN (geo-coded location pin system).
• Policy concerns raised by:
  • Dvara Research on privacy, consent, and urban governance limitations.

Relevance

GS 2 – Governance

• E-governance, Digital Public Infrastructure
• Consent-based data sharing and privacy
• Urban governance and service delivery
• Legal gaps in data regulation

GS 3 – Infrastructure & Digital Economy

• Logistics efficiency
• Platform economy
• Last-mile service delivery
• Smart cities and geospatial governance

What is DHRUVA?

• DHRUVA = a proposed Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for standardised digital addresses.
• It converts physical addresses into virtual “labels”, similar to:
  • Email IDs
  • UPI IDs
• Example:
  • Instead of writing a long address → user shares something like amit@dhruva.

Core Objective of DHRUVA

• Standardisation of addresses across platforms
• Consent-based sharing of address data
• Service discovery:
  • Identifying what doorstep services are available at a user’s location
• Improve:
  • Governance
  • Logistics
  • E-commerce delivery
  • Emergency services

What is DIGIPIN?

• Developed in-house by India Post.
• 10-digit alphanumeric, geo-coded digital pin
• Coverage:
  • Every 12 square metre block in India
• Use-case:
  • Rural areas with weak descriptive addressing
  • Precise fallback for:
    • Postal delivery
    • Emergency response

How Will DHRUVA Work?

DHRUVA ecosystem includes:

• Address Service Providers (ASPs)
  • Generate proxy address labels
• Address Validation Agencies (AVAs)
  • Authenticate address authenticity
• Address Information Agents (AIAs)
  • Handle user consent management
• Central Governance Entity
  • On the lines of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

How Will DHRUVA Be Used?

(A) Consent-Based Address Sharing

• Users tokenise addresses, like:
  • UPI tokenises bank accounts
• User controls:
  • Who can access
  • For how long
  • For what purpose

(B) Seamless Address Updating

• When a person shifts residence:
  • All linked platforms automatically update delivery location.

(C) Logistics & Platform Integration

• Supported platforms:
  • Amazon
  • Uber
  • India Post
  • Gig economy & food delivery platforms

Why is DHRUVA Being Framed as DPI?

DHRUVA is aligned with India’s DPI model like:

• Aadhaar → Identity
• UPI → Payments
• DigiLocker → Documents
• DHRUVA → Addresses

Features:

• Public ownership
• Interoperable
• Platform-neutral
• Consent-based data flows

Will It Help Urban Governance?

(A) Key Concern Highlighted by Dvara Research

• Addresses in DHRUVA are linked to people, not independently mapped physical structures.
• Implication:
  • Urban planning requires structure-based data, not merely person-based data.

(B) Consent Paradox

• Since personal data is collected:
  • User consent becomes mandatory.
• If citizens refuse consent:
  • Datasets become incomplete
• Result:
  • Weak urban planning
  • Faulty population projections
  • Inaccurate infrastructure mapping

(C) Global Best Practice Contrast

• In most advanced economies:
  • Digital addresses are linked to surveyed buildings
  • Not tied to personal identity
• This:
  • Eliminates consent dependency
  • Enables richer governance datasets

Governance & Legal Challenges

• No standalone law yet authorising large-scale address data collection
• Dvara recommendation:
  • Dedicated draft legislation required
• Key risks:
  • Surveillance through address linkage
  • Profiling via location-based service history
  • Function creep across welfare, policing, taxation

Benefits of DHRUVA (If Designed Safely)

• Faster emergency response
• Seamless service discovery
• Reduced address fraud
• Lower logistics costs
• Inclusion of rural habitations without formal addresses

Key Risks

• Privacy erosion
• State surveillance potential
• Market monopolisation by large platforms
• Weak anonymisation of geospatial data
• Exclusion if digital consent infrastructure fails

Strategic Bottom Line

• DHRUVA represents:
  • Next frontier of India’s DPI stack
  • Digital control layer for geography + service delivery
• However:
  • Without clear legal backing, anonymised structure-mapping, and privacy-by-design:
    • It risks becoming a surveillance-grade address infrastructure
• Success hinges on:
  • Independent structure mapping
  • Firewalls between identity and location
  • Strong statutory oversight

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