The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is facing mounting criticism after citizens discovered a system restriction that limits the number of complaints a person can file in a single day. When attempting to report multiple issues, the GHMC system now displays a message stating: ‘You have already raised a grievance for this category and sub-category at this location; you can raise it after 24 hours.’

The online complaint system was originally intended to streamline the grievance redressal mechanism. However, residents have now labelled it “illogical”. Daily, a significant number of public grievances are raised by citizens via the GHMC app and social media, particularly on X. Netizens frequently tag the Mayor, GHMC, Ministers, and public representatives to highlight local issues.

Following the discovery of the one-complaint-per-day restriction, city-based activist Vinay Vangala questioned the legality of the move. Tagging the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Commissioner, he asked: “Under which law are you restricting citizens from reporting more complaints in one day?” Vangala also alleged that the GHMC’s new public dashboard displays artificially reduced numbers of issues and resolutions.

Other netizens responded to the posts by calling the rule completely nonsensical, noting that restricting reports does not address widespread problems such as garbage dumping or waterlogging. Meanwhile, another activist, Mohamed Ahmed, noted that while the GHMC was previously proactive on social media, it has now become unresponsive to complaints raised on X. He stated that while officials used to provide swift responses to grievances posted by users, there is now a distinct lack of engagement.

Furthermore, Hyderabad Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi has also reportedly stopped responding to public complaints on social media applications, leaving many grievances unattended. Ahmed further complained that higher authorities who were previously tagged in posts used to respond and direct their officers to solve issues immediately, but now none appear proactive.

The activist claimed that after repeated complaints remained unattended, some citizens have been forced to solve civic issues at their own expense. He described this as a complete failure of the municipal corporation. Ahmed pointed out that despite having multiple digital platforms such as the GHMC app, an online grievance system, X, and a helpline, the civic body has failed to meet public expectations. He also alleged that, in some instances, officials are misleading netizens by replying that an issue has been solved when the situation on the ground remains unchanged.