DELHI POLICE Overview

The Problem

Cumbersome processes create inefficiencies for citizens

In India, a State Police Department lodges complaints in excess of 10 lakhs every year of lost items, especially critical items such as mobile phones, passports, identity cards and so on.

The manual process for filing complaints of such lost/stolen items involves citizen physically going to a police station and waiting for hours and even days before he is only guided to right person for filing report. Not only is this tiring and frustrating for citizens, it is also an inefficient and cumbersome process for an already burdened police department. Since these lost articles tend not to be treated as emergency requests, but have to be reported as part of the existing system and processes, police officer spends considerable time in filing and processing the paper work involved in the manual lodging of such complaints.

Moreover, lodging a police report about a lost document becomes unavoidable where there is a prerequisite for reissue of a lost document such as passport. The loss or theft of such item is usually reported after some delay after the actual incident, and details shared by the complaint are sketchy and not necessarily accurate. In particular, persons travelling through Delhi or tourists rarely find it possible to go back to the place where the article or document could have been lost and lodge a report in the closest police station.

An Elegant Technology Solution

To manage such challenge and to ensure that complaints received due to support, Delhi Police decided to enable mobile and web based reporting of critical lost/missing articles thus eliminating the need of an individual to go to a police station and file a complaint.

This report can be lodged from anywhere in the world and a printable digitally signed report is instantaneously sent in response to the complainant. With an aim of providing technology enabled services that improve citizen’s convenience, as well as make the police force more efficient, PC Solutions developed and deployed this innovative application for both Delhi and Uttar Pradesh police departments.

THE OUTCOME

Instant Ease of Use for 8 Lakh+ People

Within eight months of its launch, more than 6 lakh complaints people have been filed using Delhi Police online application for registering complaints for loss or theft items like mobile phones, passports and PAN card. The success of application has been talked about extensively over media, with some of the notable ones being NDTV, The Times of India, Hindu, Indian Express, Business Standard, Windows Central, New Technology and DNA India.

The application is aimed at increasing efficiencies in modern cities on two fronts – both in terms of time citizens spend on activities that can easily be improved using technology, and secondly, freeing up the valuable bandwidth of the police force so that they can focus on issues of greater critically, instead of paperwork . The complaint filing process for loss/theft of such documents, critical papers, mobile phones etc. has now been replaced by an application with no effect on the outcome, but has reduced the time involved, the paperwork needed and resulting frustration on both sides.