What is the India Post’s DHRUVA framework? | Explained

The story so far: The Department of Posts in May proposed a framework called Digital Hub for Reference and Unique Virtual Address, or DHRUVA, which would allow for the standardisation and sharing of physical addresses through “labels” that resemble email addresses. DHRUVA will also help with “effective governance, inclusive service delivery, and enhanced user experience,” the postal department said. The government has put out a draft amendment to the Post Office Act, 2023 to enable DHRUVA. This follows the release of DIGIPIN, a 10-digit alphanumeric pin code based on location coordinates.

What is DHRUVA?

DHRUVA is being proposed as a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) along the lines of Aadhaar and UPI. The service would allow a range of players — from logistics players like India Post to e-commerce and gig platforms like Amazon and Uber — to receive a “label” instead of users having to fill out an address. The label would then be authorised by the end user, which would then allow the platform in question to receive both the “descriptive” address, and the “geo-coded” DIGIPIN.

DIGIPIN is an open-sourced location pin system, which India Post developed in-house. Every 12 square metre block in India has its own unique DIGIPIN. India Post hopes that, at least within the postal network, it can be useful in rural areas where precise descriptive addresses may not always be available (or possible), and would help mail delivery personnel with a precise location as a fallback, in addition to the PIN code. 

DHRUVA’s ecosystem envisions entities like Address Service Providers who would generate a proxy address or label (like amit@dhruva); Address Validation Agencies who would be able to authenticate addresses; Address Information Agents who would act as intermediaries where users would be able to manage consent for providing their addresses; and a governance entity, along the lines of the National Payments Corporation of India, that would oversee the whole framework.

How will DHRUVA be used?

India Post said that a key use case would be consent-based data sharing, where people tokenising their addresses (like UPI addresses tokenise bank accounts) can “regulate when their address information can be accessed, and the duration for which it can be accessed through a consent framework.” Another useful feature will be updating addresses, allowing users to shift routine deliveries seamlessly when they move houses.

DHRUVA would thus allow users to share their addresses with digital platforms, public and private. The Department said that this would also help users with “service discovery,” by allowing intermediaries to show what doorstep services are available at their location. Since the architecture of such a framework would require data collection, Dvara Research, a non-profit policy research group focusing on issues like financial inclusion, said that a draft law would be needed to authorise it. 

Will it help urban governance?

Beni Chugh, who leads Dvara’s Future of Finance Initiative, argued that it was unclear if the system would be helpful in enabling urban governance, as the addresses it envisioned were linked to people, and not independently surveyed structures. “The current design relies on collecting personal information along the addresses, which, makes it necessary to have a consent-based mechanism for address sharing,” Ms. Chugh pointed out.

“However, if citizens consented not to share addresses or generate address codes, it could result in incomplete datasets of built infrastructure or population. This could reduce the effectiveness of this DPI for urban planning and governance mechanisms. In most parts of the world, digitisation of addresses does not include personal information which preempts the need for users’ consent and allows for richer datasets.”