Petition seeks verification of home delivery staff
BENGALURU: An online petition has demanded that the employees of public utilities and service companies that provide home deliveries, be made to go through a background check and that an ID proof be provided for the same. This appeal has been made to make it safe for those who accept these deliveries at home.
way to deliver cylinders to
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Initiated by B Mohan Kumar on Change.org, an online campaign portal, the petition asks the Police Commissioner of Bengaluru to provide a process by which residents can verify that the person entering their home, is the correct person who has been sent by the company.
“There are 3.6 crore maintainance technicians in this country. How do we tell the good from the bad?,” the petitioner questions. On the petition, he also asks those reading the same, whether they have ever thought about who would be responsible for the safety of the individual, when a strange person is allowed to enter the house. Kumar further asks the police to make it compulsory for these employees to undergo a background check.
While the number of crimes by people who pose as delivery boys or government utility staff has come down, a few years back there were a spate of incidents, that raised concerns. In many cases, the elderly were targeted, where people posing as officials from companies would enter the house on the pretext of checking the gas, electricity or water connection and proceed to loot the unsuspecting residents.
According to a police officer who didn’t want to be named, an iron grill which is never opened for strangers is the most basic safety step to take. “Every government department staff also has ID cards which can be checked. However, even these will be forged eventually. The only way to be sure is to call up the department and cross-check if you see them indulging in any suspicious behaviour or asking too many questions,” he said.