GHMC call centre Eternally on hold

GHMC call centre Eternally on hold
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Highlights

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) call centre receives about 800-1,000 calls per day and the fifteen employees at the Banjara Hills call centre are inundated with it. Due to the dearth of ground staff many issues remain unaddressed and only about 50 per cent of the calls are reopened.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) call centre receives about 800-1,000 calls per day and the fifteen employees at the Banjara Hills call centre are inundated with it. Due to the dearth of ground staff many issues remain unaddressed and only about 50 per cent of the calls are reopened.

The number of pending grievances mounts with each passing day. With 3,222 pending grievances, the Central Zone tops the list. Khairatabad and Abids form a part of the Central Zone and it is from here that most of the complaints come from. It is followed by North Zone with 1,781 grievances.

Senior officials at GHMC say that grievances pertaining to issues related to town planning takes a lot of time at times and in the meantime, people complain again. Citing an example related to street lighting, the official explains, “Once a complaint is registered, it is immediately sent to the concerned assistant engineer and if it is not solved it goes up to the EE, deputy executive engineer, superintendent, the additional commissioner and then to the top brass.”

Enquiry calls

The call centre number 040-21111111, 155304, also receives a number of enquiry calls. On some days the number goes up to 30-40 per cent. A call centre employee says, “People just call and ask so many questions. At times they do not know what exactly they want.”

On the criticism that the calls are not attended to properly, a GHMC official said that employees work round the clock in four shifts and they are being monitored. Maximum grievances are related to street lights, dog menace, mosquitoes, illegal construction and pot holes.

Out of the seven methods of registering grievances, the call centre gets the most complaints pertaining to street lighting, birth certificate status, property tax enquiry, Citizen Service Centre schemes, contact details of officials and hosts of blank calls. Ripunjai, team leader, GHMC call centre, says, “The maximum calls are related to fogging in winter and water related issues in summer months. Most number of calls is from North and West Zone.”

Number of pending grievances

  • Zone Number of pending grievances
  • South Zone 1691
  • East Zone 929
  • Central Zone 3,222
  • North Zone 1,781
  • Head Office 960
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