GCC to decentralise helpline staff for speedy resolution of complaints during northeast monsoon

Greater Chennai Corporation enhances monsoon preparedness by expanding helpline staff, increasing call center capacity, and improving complaint resolution efficiency.

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has improved monsoon preparedness by successfully testing a system for decentralisation of helpline staff and increasing the number of personnel at the call centre from 150 to 300 to assist residents registering complaints about civic issues through the 1913 helpline, social media, and other methods.

A GCC official said they had completed testing a VPN tunnel for deploying an additional 150 personnel in the 15 zonal and three regional offices of the GCC. “The civic body has started responding to 6,000 calls every day during the rain this northeast monsoon. Usually, the GCC receives less than 1,000 calls every day on helpline 1913. Before the onset of the northeast monsoon in October, the civic body increased the number of personnel at the call centre to 150,” said an official.

The number of abandoned calls on helpline 1913 has decreased significantly after the seats were increased from 10 to 150. “The GCC will not close a complaint unless the resident confirms the issue has been resolved. The personnel will call the resident to check whether the issue has been resolved. After additional personnel start answering calls in each of the 15 zones, the civic issues will be resolved quickly,” said an official.

Between October 14 and November 11, the GCC received 34,148 complaints about civic issues. The 1913 helpline was the most popular mode of complaint registration, with 21,575 calls received in this period. While the Namma Chennai mobile app received 6,329 complaints, the official website received 4,414. A total of 1,687 complaints were shared on social media, 106 were published by newspapers, and 37 were received on WhatsApp during the northeast monsoon.

Residents in Thiru. Vi. Ka. Nagar zone registered the most complaints at 3,612, after the onset of the northeast monsoon this year. Adyar, Kodambakkam, Anna Nagar, and Royapuram zones were the others that registered more than 3,000 complaints. Over 2,500 complaints each were received from Tondiarpet, Teynampet, and Perungudi zones. Manali zone registered 629 complaints.