Citizen Stack sutras: A compass to evaluate DPI

By Madhumitha P Ramanathan | Sanjay Anandaram

Digital public infrastructure (DPI) has emerged as a transformative force for delivering governance, powering sustainable development goals, empowering nations, and enhancing the well-being of people. Pioneered by India, DPI’s sweeping impact is undeniable, benefitting over 1.5 billion worldwide. From G20 summits to Quad discussions and bilateral dialogues between leaders in developed and developing countries, DPI has emerged as a powerful instrument for driving equity and progress. Its unprecedented success — from digital ID, payments, credit flows, healthcare, agriculture, and mobility, to tax collections and more — has catalysed authorities and civil society. Inevitably, given the profusion of initiatives, there are differing interpretations across countries, non-profits, foundations, multilateral agencies, and private entities of what constitutes a DPI. Yet, as the landscape becomes saturated with promises and proposals, the challenge of distinguishing DPI innovations from those claiming to be so becomes critical. Invoking Socrates’ statement that “the beginning of wisdom lies in definitions”, we recognise the importance of clarity in determining what constitutes a DPI.

Need for sutras

The key objective of any DPI is to serve the public good. Instead of getting caught up in splitting hairs over “precise” definitions, the focus should be on the guiding principles that allow DPIs to be effectively vetted against. These principles, or “sutras” (literally a thread or set of aphoristic statements that govern or define larger ideas), are India’s invaluable offering to the world, encapsulated in the Citizen Stack — a trusted DPI ecosystem endorsed by the government of India that ensures digital infrastructure addresses the public good. Citizen Stack also offers a clear framework to assess and validate DPIs. Backed by wide implementation and know-how, it sets the benchmark for what a global DPI is and ought to be.

What are sutras?

As the global conversation on DPIs intensifies, the sutras become the definitive guide for building public digital infrastructure. These encompass citizen agency and privacy; interoperability; techno-legal regulation; prevention of corporatisation and monopo- lisation; and safeguards against weaponisation.

These are not merely ideals but actionable frameworks. They ensure DPIs empower citizens, bridge digital divides, ensure the protection of sovereignty, and enable countries to navigate a complex landscape through a framework rooted in public ownership and provisioning. It is the blueprint for a future where digital infrastructure not only serves humanity but makes inclusivity and fairness tangible realities.

The issues

Why is vetting DPIs against the Citizen Stack’s sutras so crucial? Imagine a platform like Microsoft Windows being classified as a DPI. While MS Windows undeniably qualifies as digital infrastructure, it is almost ubiquitous and available to all for a fee. Is it a public infrastructure for public good? How does one ensure that monopolistic tendencies do not dominate, shareholder interests are not prioritised over public good, and dependency on Windows does not affect agency and autonomy? Do ownership and provisioning of service provisions preclude or enable public good?

Countries need to, of course, collaborate but without compromising their self-reliance and interests. DPIs offer the means to do so through the creation of institutions and standards that Citizen Stack champions.

The financial sector offers examples of the pressing need for fair competition and equitable access. Visa and Mastercard executives, in testimonies before US senators, have shed light on their dominance, with profit margins exceeding 50%. They offered preferential rates that benefitted large merchants like Walmart but adversely affected the smaller ones. Given the oligopolistic nature of the US payment market, small businesses have little choice but to use Visa and Mastercard services.

Introducing Citizen Stack

The Citizen Stack is a credible, proven alternative. For example, the payment DPI, India’s United Payments Interface (UPI), is a game-changer processing over 15 billion transactions worth over Rs 23 crore a month. By offering a transparent, accessible, and cost-effective alternative, UPI — through the non-profit National Payments Corporation of India, owned by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and other banks — ensures low-cost, convenient, speedy, and safe services. Another DPI offering, the Open Credit Enablement Network, helps users build credit profiles to seamlessly access loans. It has, till date, processed 154 million “consents” (permission by citizens to share information from their accounts, such as banks, direct and indirect tax returns, with loan providers) via over 128 million accounts enabled by the RBI-approved account aggregator ecosystem. In addition, private sector participants innovate and create citizen-facing solutions (PhonePe, Google Pay and others). These use UPI and follow the sutras embedded in the DPI offering.

These examples underscore the pivotal role of DPI in spurring innovation via partnership between the private — from multinationals to start-ups — and public sectors. Such collaborations inspire trusted global partnerships too, enhancing the overall impact and equitable growth of digital ecosystems. India’s Citizen Stack sutra-based comprehensive approach — from policy, legal, institutional, governance, and funding, to implementation architectures — ensures the fidelity of DPI is maintained.

Such a DPI is not merely a solution for underserved populations. It offers a transformative blueprint for economic systems that promote fairness, self-reliance, and the democratisation of opportunity. The sutras therefore serve as a vital compass to evaluate DPIs. It is vital that they are adhered to so that DPIs remain true to their public or citizen-centric purpose.

The writers are respectively advocate for DPI and iSPIRT volunteer, & iSPIRT volunteer and ambassador.

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