The Times of India              03.08.2013

Civic complaint redressal system gets 33,000 complaints

AHMEDABAD: After almost a month since it was first launched, the civic grievance redressal system has received more than 33,000 complaints. On Friday, the municipal commissioner GuruprasadMohapatra gave a detailed account of the types of complaints received by the redresssal system.

Nearly 60 per cent of the complaints were addressed in a timely manner, claims Mohapatra. Most of these were related to the water supply, engineering and health department. The other 40 per cent mainly consisted of complaints that required that a civic service or utility be put in place. "There were private societies that wanted roads to be laid. Citizens have to understand that the redressal system is related to existing civic services. We will put up a manual for complaint registry," says Mohapatra.

The new user-friendly system only requires a phone call to a six-digit number - which can be dialed without prefixing digits - for automated registration of civic complaints. The project was initially launched on a pilot basis in 2009 for the New West Zone area with 34 complaint categories. This time, the software has been upgraded to incorporate 200 different categories of complaints and will be operational for the entire city.

The system has automated responses, with the option of talking to a customer care executive. Once you register a complaint, a number is SMSed to your phone. The complaint is SMSed and emailed to the designated area officer, who then also stays in touch with the complainant on the phone. The system immediately identifies the officer in charge and draws a schedule log against the officer's name to record the time within which the complaint has to be resolved.