Karnataka plans biometric inmate tracking and cashless canteens in prisons

Karnataka government is planning a sweeping technology overhaul of prison operations, with proposals to introduce real-time inmate movement tracking, cashless canteen systems and QR-based biometric prisoner calling kiosks across prisons in the state.

Officials from Karnataka Directorate of Prisons and Correctional Services told Moneycontrol that the department recently floated a tender to implement an integrated, technology-driven prison management system. The initiative aims to enhance security, improve monitoring, and enable cashless transactions within prison facilities.

Also read: AI-powered video surveillance to monitor inmates in Bengaluru Central Prison

Alok Kumar, Director General of Police (Prisons and Correctional Services), told Moneycontrol: "We want to enhance transparency, and technology will bring neutrality. Human intervention often introduces bias, and in some cases, even genuine prisoners don’t get a chance to make calls. We are planning to introduce QR code-based biometric calling kiosks, as well as inmate tracking and cashless canteens in prisons."

"We will also deploy an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) to track anyone attempting to throw narcotics over prison walls or trying to escape." he said.

The move comes amid public outrage after several viral videos purportedly showed inmates at Bengaluru Central Prison having access to banned items such as marijuana, liquor, mobile phones and television sets inside their barracks. Following the controversy, state government last month constituted a high-power committee led by ADGP (law and order) R Hitendra to prepare a comprehensive report on the condition of prisons across Karnataka.

As part of the project, a real-time prisoner movement tracking system will be commissioned at Bengaluru Central Prison to monitor every inmate's movement across blocks, barracks, canteens, interview rooms, video-conferencing rooms, hospitals, workshops and prison gates.

Each movement will be authenticated using biometric verification and logged with details of purpose, location and time. Prison officials will be able to view live prisoner counts by location through a centralised dashboard, along with details of inmates on parole, furlough, court production or hospital visits.

The system will also flag alerts for prisoners who fail to return within approved timelines, categorising them based on the type of leave. Detailed reports-including prisoner-wise and block-wise movement histories, court and hospital visit logs, daily reallocation records and absconding alerts-will be generated and made accessible both within the prison network and at the headquarters.

Also, read: Liquor bottles, chakna and dancing inmates: Viral video exposes life inside Bengaluru Central Jail | Watch

The department is also planning cashless canteen management system at Bengaluru Central Prison built around a biometric wallet model. Inmates will be able to make purchases using fingerprint authentication, with spending limits defined under prison rules.

Funds can be credited to prisoner wallets through online payments made by relatives or through authorised cash or coupon modes. The system will also handle inventory management, billing, stock reconciliation, vendor payments, bank reconciliation, profit and loss reporting and audit trails.

Relatives making online payments will receive SMS or email confirmations, and the platform will support OTP-based authentication, dispute resolution and chargeback handling. Special provisions will be given for point-of-sale devices in high-security zones, women’s wards and other restricted areas, with real-time synchronisation to the central canteen database.

As many as 115 biometric-enabled prisoner calling kiosks will be installed across nine prisons- Bengaluru Central, Mysuru, Kalaburgi, Ballari, Belagavi, Dharwad, Vijayapur and Shivamogga and Bidar.

Inmates will be permitted to make voice calls only to pre-approved and whitelisted contact numbers, following biometric authentication using fingerprint and facial recognition. All calls will be routed through a centralised IP-PBX telephony system hosted at the prison headquarters in Bengaluru.

Prison authorities will have real-time access to call logs, recordings, dashboards and alerts, and will be able to monitor or intervene in calls when required. Calling privileges can also be restricted or blocked as a disciplinary measure. The system will maintain detailed prisoner profiles, including biometric data, approved contact lists, call limits and cooling-off periods between calls. The system will support up to 300 concurrent calls with 99.9 percent uptime, secure encrypted data transmission, role-based access controls, call recording and comprehensive audit trails.

Also, read: Karnataka govt suspends prison officials after probe into viral videos of Bengaluru jail prisoners getting 'VVIP treatment'