DCW notice to police over poor response of helpline number

The Delhi Commission for Women on Wednesday issued a notice to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (police control room) over poor response of the ‘PCR 100’ helpline number.

DCW chief Swati Maliwal has sought to know the details of the complaint or call handling procedures put in place at the control room along with the details of its present infrastructure including 

number of lines and strength of staff.

She also sought to know what steps have been taken to reduce response time of ‘PCR 100’ number and the monitoring mechanism that is in place to ensure the smooth functioning of the system.

The notice comes in the wake of the DCW chief Maliwal herself calling up the control room number after she saw a vehicle on fire near Tibetan monastery market in Kashmere Gate when she was traveling from Civil Lines to IP Estate this afternoon.

She called up the 100 number from her mobile but was only able to get through the number after trying for 15 minutes.

“The response time of 100 number in this instance appears to be poor. I’m deeply concerned about the fact that I was able to get through to 100 only after 14-15 attempts and a delay of 15-20 minutes.

“It is pertinent to note here that the caller could actually have been a woman in distress in urgent need of help.

That is why it is important that the response time of the helpline needs to be significantly reduced and under no circumstance should a delay of 15 minutes be allowed,” she said.

She has asked the DCP to provide her with the details by December 4. Maliwal, however, appreciated the fact after her first call was received by control room, she got atleast five follow up calls from various police officers.