BENGALURU: Lost your document or your SIM card? You can now file a complaint online and get an acknowledgement immediately instead of going to a police station and spending hours there.
The city police have recently click-started this initiative.
Till now, you had to go to a police station to get an acknowledgement (police intimation report) of your complaint about your lost or missing article like a SIM card to get a duplicate card, or to get a police verification report for jobs or visa verification.
The new service will make the process hassle-free. This comes close on the heels of FIR kiosks, a people-friendly initiative, launched by the Bengaluru city police in Mantri Mall and the traffic management centre for people to file FIRs without actually visiting a police station. The initiative could be replicated in other districts once the government is convinced of its efficacy, said Praveen Sood, secretary, Home Department.
Lost and Found
To get a duplicate driving licence or Aadhaar card, you have to get a police intimation report. So far, you have had to visit a few police stations to find out the jurisdictional station (area where you lost your belongings) before you could actually file a complaint and get a report, explains B Dayanand, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), who manages the website. “But now, on our website, you can click on ‘Lost Report’ and key in details of the lost item, venue, area and city and you can get a police report within minutes,” he said.
The system may have originated in Delhi, but on the Bengaluru city police website, you can search for the lost item and you may actually be able to find it.
“What we have done is to register all the police stations and some malls on the website. When something is found, we update it on the website and people can look for lost items here. If they are lucky, they may even be able to find it,” Dayanand said.
If you want to trace your lost item, you are automatically sent to the website www.lostclikfound.com
If you are unable to find the item, you can report it on the website itself and a police intimation report will be sent to your email, from where it can be downloaded and printed.
Rechin T C, who works with an airline company in the city, recalls the hassle he had to go through to get a police verification report.
“For almost two months I had to make numerous visits to the police station and the commissioner’s office and keep asking them to find out what happened to the verification, and they kept telling me to come after a few days. Finally, it turned out that they had misplaced my photograph,” he recalls.
Now, however, all you have to do is download an application form from the website by clicking on the PCC/PVC/Passport verification and apply online.
“There is a payment gateway through which you can make the required payments. The verification process will be completed within one week and the verification report will be emailed to the person,” Dayanand said.
Scaling Up Initiative
“There is definitely a possibility of scaling up initiatives like the online application system, which will ultimately benefit citizens. Bengaluru, being a metropolitan city, is the best place to try out such initiatives as pilot projects. Once we get the feedback and are convinced of its efficacy, we will look into scaling it up to other districts and the rest of the state,” Sood said.
