New safety app for Delhi commuters

To get rid of the tag of being an unsafe city, particularly for women, Delhi Lt. Governor Anil Baijal has launched a “QR Code Scheme” called Himmat Plus designed to enhance the safety and security of commuters, particularly of women, travelling in the yellow and black taxis and auto-rickshaws from airports, as well as Railway and Metro stations in Delhi.

Around 3,000 auto-rickshaws and taxis are now associated with this initiative. Explaining the objective of the scheme, Railways Deputy Commissioner of Police inesh Kumar Gupta said the purpose of developing this application was to provide quick emergency help to Delhi citizens. “The citizens can avail this service just by downloading and registering on the app at no cost. Once users complete the registration, they can avail emergency help with just a click,” Gupta said.

The officer said that the upgraded app would definitely empower women and boost their confidence while travelling.

“In the QR code functionality, the user opens the Himmat Plus App and scans the QR code from the card which is placed on the headrest of the driver’s seat, facing the customer,” Gupta said.

“When the user presses the ‘Report Journey’ button, it sends the location with driver’s unique ID to the Himmat dashboard at Police Head Quarters,” he said. In case the driver is not registered, then the user receives the auto-generated message ‘Driver is not registered with Delhi Police’. In such an event, the passenger can call the police control room or press the SOS button on the application.

“If driver is registered with the Delhi Police, then the user can start the journey, and every five minutes, the user receives the pop-up notification on the app with messages like ‘Are you reaching safely’, with options such as ‘On the Way’, ‘Reached Safely’ and ‘In Trouble’,” Gupta said. In case the user presses the ‘In Trouble’ button, Delhi Police personnel will call the passenger. It also sends alert messages to the user’s emergency contact number.