The mobile app Suraksha, launched with much fanfare last year, is meant to be a one-click alert that will enable the police to respond to women in need of help.
Data, however, shows that less than one in five alerts were “real”. Of the 2,096 SOS alerts triggered through the app, only 389 — or 18.5% of the calls — were genuine. The remaining 1,707 alerts were “abandoned” or closed, and most had been triggered unwittingly by users who were trying to familiarise themselves with the app. “When we call back to inquire, the user would say it was done by mistake,” said a police official.
Bengaluru city police control room officials said the app provides five to 10 seconds for users to cancel the alert sent through the panic button. While some alerts are cancelled, the rest make their way to the control room.
“Most people after installing the app do a trial run to see how it works. We also get alerts by mistake when the phone is not handled properly and power button get pressed more than five times,” said Chetan Kumar P. from Trinity Mobility, which has developed the app. He said that the data also included test calls made by senior police officials who had loaded the app.
Since its launch in April 2017, the app has seen only 95,000 downloads, much below what the police had hoped for when they launched a series of advertising campaigns.
Kusum Vatsalya, a student who has downloaded the app, said she had once pressed the alert button by mistake when she accidentally touched her screen. “There is no exit button or back button to exit from the app or close it when not in use” she said.
Adding an exit button in the app is something many app users have suggested on Google Play store. However, developers of the app said that since it was an emergency app and should work instantly, they did not put an exit button.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Control Room) K. Ajay Kumar is not discouraged by the high number of “abandoned” calls. “Some of these alerts that came to us are when users are trying out the app. By calling them back, they gain confidence in the app. This creates awareness,” he said.