Picture this: It’s a busy Sunday afternoon in Bengaluru and you’re on a crowded bus. Struggling to find a spot to plant your feet, and finding a sliver of space in the corner, you put your bag there while you acrobatically manouvre through the crowd.
When you’re stop finally arrives you get off, only to realise that your bag with your ATM card, driver’s license and more is still on the bus.
Before you start groaning about all the effort it’ll take you to find the nearest police station and complain about your lost items, there’s an app built just for you.
Launched in July, 2016, the e-Lost Report app is an initiative by the Bengaluru City Police (BCP) to help citizens report the loss of items in public places, including important documents, mobile phones, laptops, wallets and so on.
The app allows users to lodge a complaint without the hassle of going to the police station. Once the complaint has been registered on the app, a digitally signed copy is sent to the complainant via email.
“Most people don’t go to the police station to report lost items because they think the policemen will harass them. And there are others who are too busy to do it. We have launched this free application so that everyone can register complaints online,” said MG Nagendra Kumar, DCP (Command) of Bengaluru Police.
So far, over one lakh downloads of the app, which is available in both Android and iOS version, have been made, said another police officer. “Complaints can be made on the app regardless of whether the complainant is a resident of Bengaluru city; the loss of item(s), however, should have occurred within the jurisdiction of the BCP,” he added.
The app is useful primarily for providing proof of a police complaint, which is required for reissuing lost documents and cards. “Lodging a report of your lost documents is important because the authorities responsible for the reissue of such documents will require you to submit a police report as evidence of the loss”, said Mr. Nagendra Kumar.
Importantly, however, registering a complaint does not mean any inquiry or investigation will be launched on that basis. “Though the information of the lost item gets registered in an electronic format at the State Crimes Record Bureau, no enquiry or investigation will be conducted based on this. We will notify the complainant if the missing item is found,” said an official from the Command Centre, BCP. The theft of items cannot therefore be registered under the e-lost app, he added.