MUMBAI: Aiming to streamline the emergency services and response system across the country, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has invited suggestions from the public on a single emergency number like 100 or 108.
The new emergency communication system will be based on the lines of that in countries like US, which follow the 911 code.
100 or 108 are being considered as the single number for the entire country for various emergencies like police, ambulance, fire brigade, civil defense and disaster management. At present, there are different numbers for different types of emergencies, like 100 for police and 101 for fire.
Releasing the consultation paper on ‘Universal Single Number Based Integrated Emergency Communication and Response System’ (IECRS), Trai said, “In India, number 100 which is reserved for calling police services is very popular. This makes 100 a suitable candidate for the choice of single number for IECRS.”
It further also added that the 108 emergency service managed by EMRI (Emergency Management and Research Institute) in over 10 states is becoming popular as an emergency response system.
In order to select a suitable number, Trai has also sought comments if there should be primary or secondary access numbers defined for IECRS in the country on the lines of other countries. The comments can be sent to the authority by 5 April 2013.
“A secondary emergency response number also exists in some countries like 112 in UK (in addition to 999), 112 in Australia (in addition to 000). Calls from this number are again routed to primary response numbers in these countries. In view of the various shortcomings in the present system, there is a need to have a similar system in India too,” it added.
Trai has also asked if emergency number access be allowed from inactive SIMs or handsets without SIMs, and how the funding requirement can be met for costs involved in implementation of IECRS.
“Should the cost be entirely borne by Central/State Governments or are there other possible ways to meet the funding requirements,” it said.
It also mentioned that in most developed countries an integrated emergency communication and response system is available that is accessible through a universal single number by people.
Inspite of taking up the initiative to set up a single number for India, there are a number of challenges that Trai faces in its implementation as there are several government departments involved in handling different types of emergencies.