Gemplus delivers smart chip technology for the first phase of India's nationwide vehicle registration program

Luxembourg - 4 April 2005 - Gemplus International S.A. (Euronext: LU0121706294 - GEM and NASDAQ: GEMP), the world's leading provider of smart card-based solutions, announces that it has delivered over 100,000 GemSCOSTA¹ optical smart cards to the State of New Delhi in the first phase of India's vehicle registration card programme. India's smart card-based programme for vehicle registration and drivers license is expected to be the world's largest of its kind, with a market potential of over 100 million cards issued nationwide over the next five years.

India's vehicle registration programme has initially been rolled out in the States of New Delhi and Gujarat, and will be shortly followed by the States of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Together the four State Governments aim to issue a total of 30 million cards to vehicle owners by 2008, with several other States to follow.

The SCOSTA smart chip from Gemplus (GemSCOSTA) will securely store statutory data about the vehicle, its registration and the owner, while the card body will have basic cardholder data printed on them. Information about vehicle history, pollution control certification and other vehicle documents, are stored on the optical strip. Gemplus is working closely with local BOOT² project contractor and system integrator, Shonkh Technologies Int'l Ltd, who will manage all implementation work.

"We are pleased to be working with the world's leading smart card company, and the first International manufacturer who was certified to meet India's SCOSTA specification", said Mr.Vivek Nagpal, Chairman of Shonkh Technologies Int'l Limited. "By using smart card technology in combination with optical cards we are able to deliver the most advanced vehicle registration system in the world, helping the Indian Government to reduce the queues and manual paperwork normally associated with this service."

This system will offer immediate access to information about drivers and their vehicles to Police/Road Transport authorities in the field. A Police/Road Transport officer equipped with a portable reader terminal is able to insert the vehicle registration card in the reader and instantly retrieve data about the vehicle and its owner, as well as records regarding certificate of pollution control etc. Initially, the optical smart card will only serve the vehicle registration application, but the plan is to eventually extend the card to support additional applications, such as petrol loyalty, e-purse, insurance etc.

"Gemplus is excited to be a part of this groundbreaking project", said Vijay Parthasarathy, Managing Director Gemplus India. "While India's Government can benefit from increased tax revenue and reduced fraud, its citizens are able to enjoy greater protection against vehicle theft and from purchasing illegally obtained vehicles".

1. SCOSTA (Smart Card Operating System for Transport Applications) is the OS specifications for smart cards to be used as Vehicle Registration cards and Drivers License cards, drafted by India's National Informatics Centre, a branch of the Ministry of IT. All Vehicle Registration and Drivers Licence cards issued in India will have to adhere to this standard to ensure national interoperability. GemSCOSTA is Gemplus' own SCOSTA certified smart card OS developed for the Indian Vehicle Registration and Drivers Licence card market. 
2. BOOT = Build, Own, Operate, Transfer. A BOOT funding model involves a single organisation, or consortium designing, building, funding, owning and operating the scheme for a defined period of time and then transferring this ownership across to an agreed party.

About Gemplus 

Gemplus International S.A. (Euronext: LU0121706294 - GEM and NASDAQ: GEMP) is the world's leading player in the smart card industry in both revenue and total shipments (source: Gartner-Dataquest (2004), Frost & Sullivan, Datamonitor.). It has sold over 5 billion smart cards.

With security at its core, and 2400 patents produced by its innovative R&D team, Gemplus delivers a wide range of portable, personalized solutions in areas including Identity, Mobile Telecommunications, Public Telephony, Banking, Retail, Transport, Healthcare, WLAN, Pay-TV, e-government, and access control.

Gemplus' revenue in 2004 was 865 million Euros.

www.gemplus.com 

For more information

Carl Norell
Gemplus
Tel: +1 215 390 2899 
Email: carl.norell@gemplus.com

Vanessa Clark
Edelman
Tel: +44 (0)20 7344 1349
Email: vanessa.clarke@gemplus.com

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