After FIR kiosk, Bengaluru police to launch mobile app to help people file complaint

BENGALURU: The police will soon launch a mobile app using which people can register their complaints. The app is expected to help citizens of Bengaluru which has the highest number of IT and startups in India, and more than a million of the city's population is engaged with the IT, ITES and BPO sector.

This is the second major citzen friendly measure the police is working on after it opened an FIR kiosk at Mantri Mall in Malleswaram, last November, which has helped people with the remote filing of FIR or first inormation report.

The police top brass had this problem of not getting accurate crime trends as stations are averse to register an FIR. Every station is keen to present a picture of "zero crime rate" and an accurate report would only invite pressure from seniors to solve the crime at the earliest. Once the app is launched, the police will not have an option to conceal an incident of crime.

Bhaskar Rao, Additional DGP (Computer Wing), told ET the app will capture all details from a complainant, and the complaint will straightaway go to the jurisdictional police. The complainant will later receive his copy of FIR on his email id. The app will help people to register any type of complaint: it could be on a case of traffic rule violation, demand for bribes, instances of public nuisance or alerts.

Pavan Thatha, cofounder of city-based security startup ShieldSquare, hailed the initiative, and suggested that the police build necessary firewalls around it so that it is not vulnerable to misuse.