Sahaaya 2.0’s double escalation feature plugs 'no resolution' gap

Bengaluru: In positive news for citizens actively reporting civic issues on the BBMP’s mobile app Sahaaya 2.0, the civic body has introduced a new feature allowing people to escalate unresolved complaints twice.

This option is in response to numerous citizens pointing out instances where the BBMP closed tickets without addressing the underlying issues.

BBMP Special Commissioner Munish Moudgil said the new feature would be implemented in a day or two. “We have trained our call centre staff to reopen closed tickets by gathering feedback from the complainant. On average, the app receives nearly 300 complaints daily,” he said.

“No complaint will be closed without obtaining feedback from citizens,” Moudgil assured.

RR Nagar resident Sandeep Krishnamurthy welcomed the feature. “At present, engineers tend to close tickets arbitrarily,” he said. “The escalation feature will ensure there is some sort of fear.”

He noted that while the BBMP's solid waste management, electrical, and forest departments addressed most of his complaints, issues related to the engineering department, especially regarding pothole filling, were consistently ignored.

Citizens have been asking the BBMP to bolster the effectiveness of the Sahaaya app by actively regulating and monitoring grievances to gain a better understanding of ground realities.

In future, the BBMP plans to enhance the Sahaaya 2.0 app by introducing an Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) to simplify the process of reopening closed tickets.

How the new feature works

* Call centre staff can reopen any complaint closed by the engineer concerned after obtaining feedback from citizens.

* The reopened complaint will be forwarded to a higher authority within the same department.

* If the complaint is closed again without resolution, the call centre will contact the citizen.

* Based on their feedback, the complaint will either be resolved or escalated to higher-ups.