Broken system? Bengalureans flag poor redressal by civic body’s 1533 helpline

Bengaluru: The integrated civic helpline of Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) — 1533 — has come under scrutiny after residents across the city complained of delayed or ineffective grievance redressal and confusion over ward jurisdiction following the recent civic restructuring.Citizens allege that ground-level officials often evade responsibility by stating that the complaint location no longer falls under their jurisdiction under the new GBA ward boundaries. Many have taken to social media to post screenshots of unresolved complaints, highlighting gaps in coordination and accountability.
The complaints received on the GBA Sahaaya (1533) helpline and over social media are registered by the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC), a part of the Bengaluru Smart City initiative. Following the formation of GBA and the five city corporations, there was a major overhaul of civic staff posted across the city. According to ICCC staff, a major hurdle to the system's smooth functioning is the integration of the latest data, which is pending.ICCC project manager Krishna Kumar P said the data on officials posted across the 369 wards was mapped by the GBA's in-house IT team onto the Sahaaya system. "The mapped data is currently in the testing phase. After completion of testing by Sahaaya, the data will be integrated into the ICCC system," he said. However, the GBA's IT unit tested the data for over a month, leading to a delay in integration.Residents fill potholesA group of residents waited for over two weeks after registering complaints on the helpline to get huge potholes in Ittamadu closed. However, they eventually ended up filling the craters themselves through a coordinated effort. Dhruv Nagarajan Koundinya, a resident of AGS Layout near Uttarahalli, told TOI that the lack of consequences for officials who do not respond to complaints is the main factor behind their apathy. The spot, which falls under Padmanabha Nagar assembly constituency, is now under Bengaluru West city corporation limits."Though the response was delayed, an official explained to us that the file related to the road was recently handed over to her and that there was a proposal for concretising the stretch. She assured us that she would get the repair done by the previous contractor under the maintenance agreement, but was unsure when that would happen," he said.Koundinya contrasted the 1533 helpline with the 112 police helpline, asserting that the latter is very responsive and effective. "Even for minor issues like traffic congestion, the response on 112 is quick. Constables fear escalation of complaints and resolve them immediately," he said.Escalation & complaint volumeWhen a complaint is not redressed in a satisfactory manner, it will be reopened and escalated to a higher level. If an assistant executive engineer closes the complaint without effectively resolving the issue, the complaint will be reopened and assigned to an executive engineer. It then becomes the responsibility of the EE to get the work done by the AEE, Kumar explained.On average, ICCC receives around 1,000 complaints a day. This also includes complaints related to electricity, water supply, sewage, and fire emergencies. ICCC personnel maintained that even though several complaints are received on the same issue, resulting in duplication, each complaint is registered and the case monitored.The Sahaaya helpline's call centre employs 20 people, who work in shifts to receive calls from complainants. Apart from the staff assigned by GBA, the call centre also has one person each from the fire department, BWSSB, and Bescom.ICCC operations are undertaken by a private firm, which was awarded the contract for a period of three years starting in 2023. The centre functions under the Smart City project and is funded by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs. Under the initiative, ICCCs were opened in a total of 100 smart cities across India.