  Many Internet of things (IoT) applications have been developed and
implemented on unreliable wireless networks like the Delay tolerant network
(DTN), however, efficient data transfer in DTN is still an important issue for
the IoT applications. One of the application areas of DTN is Vehicular Delay
Tolerant Network (VDTN) where the network faces communication disruption due to
lack of end-to-end relay route. It is challenging as some of the nodes show
selfish behavior to preserve their resources like memory, and energy level and
become non-cooperative. In this article, an Honesty based Democratic Scheme
(HBDS) is introduced where vehicles with higher honesty level are elected as
heads -- during the process. Vehicles involved in the process would maximize
their rewards (reputation) through active participation in the network
activities whereas nodes with non-cooperative selfish behavior are punished.
The honesty level of the heads is analyzed using Vickrey, Clarke, and Groves
(VCG) model. The mathematical model and algorithms developed in the proposed
HBDS technique are simulated using the VDTNSim framework to evaluate their
efficiency. The performance results show that the proposed scheme dominates
current schemes in terms of packet delivery probability, packet delivery delay,
number of packets drop, and overhead ratio.
