cVIGIL app to take complaints to Election Commission

Hyderabad: With candidates gearing up for the Lok Sabha polls, people can use the Citizen Vigil (cVIGIL) app to complain to the Election Commission in real time regarding violation of the model code of conduct.

The app allows only live content to be uploaded to ensure authenticity of the complaint. The Election Commission responds within minutes by deploying the relevant officials to take action.

During the Assembly elections last year, people had lodged 2,520 complaints on the cVIGIL app. Released in October last year, the app is available for Android users and provides time-stamped proof of the violation of the model code of conduct or expenditure norms. It creates a fast-track complaint reception and redressal system. It allows citizens to give live reports on incidents of MCC violation within minutes of having witnessed them.

Once a violation is reported on cVIGIL, the complaint is forwarded to a flying squad for investigation. In case of a registered complaint, a unique ID number is generated to allow the complainants to track the complaint status.

Complaints can be filed anonymously too but they would not get any tracking facility, like registered users do.

In order to ensure that the complaints are cleared, there are other applications for the access of the election observer, returning officer, such as ‘cVigil Observer’ to update the status of the complaint.

There is no information regarding the number of complaints lodged on the app that were actually resolved.