Finally dealing the right way!

The Indian Railways is doing a lot of things to better itself but one does not really know if the system works, whether the self correction happens at all. Well, the Indian Railways is indeed being bold – it has launched a  SMS-based service for immediate response to passenger complaints regarding housekeeping service in coaches. This service will help passengers to contact onboard staff through SMS or phone call for complaints related to cleanliness in coaches, toilets and other problems faced during journey. Wow! One wonders if this will really work? If it does then it probably solves almost 50% of the grievances of the Indian railways.

It is to be launched either in Mumbai Rajdhani or Bangalore Rajdhani as a pilot project soon. This will be a part of its on-site passenger complaints redressal system (OPCRS), which aims to address customer complaints promptly by establishing direct communication between the customer and the service provider available on-board.

The intentions are immaculate but somehow there remains as nagging doubt about this system working. The SMS getting a response and evincing prompt action is doubtful as we are more used to the staff saying that they did not get the complaint at all or they are too busy right now to attend to your complaint or there is simply no one to take care. Excuses could be hundreds; that is what our past experience tells us. Well, instead of being a cynic, maybe let’s hope that this time around, it will work.