Hyderabad: Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) mobile application’s 24-hour restriction on raising multiple issues is irking the citizens as it is acting as a digital roadblock from the very app designed to facilitate it. It has raised doubts about the efficiency and transparency of the civic body's grievance redressal system.

Speaking to Hyderabad Mail on the issue, Activist Vinay Vangala said, "When I was standing at a single location, I observed multiple civic issues, including footpath encroachments, traffic problems, and other violations. Eager to report them after office hours, I turned to the GHMC app. After successfully raising one complaint, I was immediately prevented from submitting another. The app displayed a message instructing me to wait 24 hours before registering a new grievance."

Instead of enabling a comprehensive, area-based complaint system, the app's design forces a piecemeal approach. "This is ridiculous," Vinay Vagala complained. "When there are multiple issues in one location, the system should allow us to report them all. It would be easy for the GHMC to clear all the problems at one go. Now, if I raise one issue and it gets resolved, I have to complain again days later, forcing the GHMC team to visit again. It's a waste of time and civic resources for everyone," added Vinay.

Calls for transparency in grievance redressal

Vinay Vangala also raised concerns about transparency and the actual resolution of complaints. He pointed out that the app further restricts citizens by limiting their ability to reopen a ticket once a complaint is closed.

"Earlier, there was no such restriction, we could respond to a ticket more than once. Now, many officers are simply commenting on the issue and closing the ticket rather than addressing it at the ground level," Vangala added. This practice suggests that the drive to show a high number of 'closed' tickets may be taking precedence over actual on-ground resolution. An officer should only close a ticket after the issue has been physically addressed, not by merely commenting on a file, demanded Vinay.

"By keeping these kinds of restrictions, there is no transparency in resolving the issues," he added. He urged the GHMC to remove these barriers, suggesting that a more open system would allow the corporation to better analyze data, identify zones with multiple recurring problems, and understand issues distinctly.