Election Commission of India activates voter helpline to address grievances

DIMAPUR — The Election Commission of India (ECI) has activated the national voter helpline and all 36 state and district-level helplines with an aim to address all queries/grievances of citizens.  

An update from ECI informed that the national contact centre (NCC) would serve as the central helpline for all states and union territories. It would operate daily from 8 am to 8 pm through toll-free number 1800-11-1950. It added that calls are handled by trained executives, who assist citizens and other stakeholders with electoral services and queries.

In this regard, ECI has issued instructions to each state/ UT and district to set up its own state contact centre (SCC) and district contact centre (DCC) respectively to ensure timely and localised responses. Those centres would operate during office hours on all working days throughout the year, providing assistance in the regional languages of the state/ UT.

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It stated that all complaints and queries would be recorded and tracked through the national grievance service portal (NGSP 2.0).

Additionally, ECI has also launched ‘Book-a-Call with BLO’ facility, wherein citizens could directly contact their respective booth level officer (BLO) through the feature available on the ECINET platform. It added that citizens could also connect with election officials using the ECINet App.

ECI, therefore, directed all CEOs, DEOs, EROs to regularly monitor the progress and ensure speedy disposal of the requests of the users within 48 hours.

It informed that those facilities are in addition to the existing mechanisms for addressing election related grievances. Citizens could also send email to complaints@eci.gov.in 

Meanwhile, ECI has encouraged all voters to use the ‘Book-a-Call with BLO’ and the dedicated voter helpline number–1950 facilities for all election-related information, feedback, suggestions and complaints for prompt and transparent resolution of their concerns.