Poor response from KMC call center irks public

Kakinada: The Kakinada Municipal Corporation call centre is not delivering the services promised at its launch. As part of the Smart City project, officials launched a call centre for the benefit of the public to register complaints and grievances in the corporation limits.

According to officials, people can lodge their complaint on the helpline number: 8842-357-722 and track the progress of the same. They will also be provided the complaint number.

But on practical grounds, many people complain that officials are not attending even after a week. Many persons complained that some of the lodged complaints were not even addressed even after months. 

“Sometimes even the complaint lodged is closed without the knowledge of the complainants. The system should be set-right for speedy redressal of grievances,” said a city-based psychologist A.P.J. Vinu.  He said that the situation is continued further, the citizens won't be able bring civic issues to the notice of the civic officials. He added that there is nothing 'smart' about this call centre.

Most of the common complaints that were lodged are related to birth and death certificates, property tax, trade licence, electoral photo identity cards (EPIC), streetlights, non-lifting of garbage from bins, overflowing drainage canals, illegal constructions and damaged roads.

Meanwhile, the e-governance wing of the KMC is not functioning at the expected levels. “Even the software doesn't have enough categories to complaint. How can I lodge a complaint if am not provided the slot to describe the nature and location of the complaint,” a resident questioned. 

However, officials said that due to busy schedules such as elections, smart city works among others, there are lapses on the part of service maintenance of the call centre and said that lapses would be rectified at the earliest.