The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has launched a new “WhatsApp chatbot” service, which promises to resolve grievances of citizens regarding civic services within six hours. On the 2nd day of its launch ,Thursday, they received as many as 552 complaints of which 502 were resolved by the evening.
PCMC IT department head Neelkanth Poman said citizens can access the WhatsApp chat bot facility on their cellphones using the number 8888006666. “To use the service, citizens should first save the number on their cell phones. Then, all that they need to do is type ‘menu’ on WhatsApp to register their complaints about the services. They will have to provide their name, address and location,” he said. The chatbot is available in both English and Marathi.
PCMC has become the second municipal corporation (after Mumbai’s BMC) in Maharashtra to launch the WhatsApp chatbot using artificial intelligence. It will address citizens’ complaints related to the civic services provided by PCMC administration.
To start with, the WhatsApp chatbot will take up complaints related to waste collection, public toilets, sewage accumulation, construction debris, littering in public places and waste-burning.
The PCMC administration will try to resolve the complaints made by citizens in flat six hours, but the plan is to reduce this time to 2 hours!
News Source: Indian Express
