Vizag cops roll out voice kiosks for instant e-complaints
Passengers at Visakhapatnam Railway Station and commuters at the RTC Complex can now lodge police complaints without visiting a police station or seeking help from police personnel, thanks to new voice-based e-complaint kiosks launched on Saturday.
Home Minister V. Anitha inaugurated the two kiosks in the presence of Commissioner of Police Shankabratha Bagchi.
The initiative, developed by the Visakhapatnam City Police, allows people to narrate their grievances directly into the system. The complaints are then integrated with the Public Grievance Redressal System (PGRS) for further processing and resolution.
The railway station was chosen as one of the locations because of its massive daily footfall, with around 1.5 lakh passengers passing through the station every day.
Speaking at the launch, Ms. Anitha said the facility would make police services more accessible and responsive, particularly for passengers requiring immediate assistance.
“Passengers can now lodge complaints through the kiosk without approaching a police station. The system allows users to register their grievances by voice in Telugu, English and Hindi,” she said.
The Minister said the voice facility would eliminate the need for complainants to depend on others to write down their grievances. This, she said, could help improve the accuracy of complaints and make the system easier to use for people with limited literacy or poor digital skills.
Ms. Anitha said the nature of crime was changing rapidly and technology was playing an increasingly important role in crime detection and investigation.
Mr. Bagchi said the kiosks would function round the clock at both locations.
He said the PGRS integration would ensure that complaints registered at the kiosks were routed through the established grievance-redressal system.
“The system enables passengers to register complaints through a simple voice-guided interaction without requiring extensive digital knowledge or assistance from police personnel,” Mr. Bagchi said.
He said the facility was particularly aimed at helping elderly people, semi-literate citizens, and those unfamiliar with digital technology.