The Union government is set to introduce an AI-powered chatbot to assist users in lodging complaints or appeals on its centralised public grievance redressal portal, The Indian Express has learned.
The chatbot will soon be integrated into the existing Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS), managed by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG). This platform enables users to file grievances with any Union or state government ministry or department.
According to DARPG Secretary V. Srinivas, the government is already using AI to sort grievances into roughly 22,000 categories. The upcoming AI chatbot, developed by Bhashini, a division under the Digital India Corporation, will streamline the process further. Additionally, the next generation of CPGRAMS is expected to be completed by June 2025. "The goal is to offer simpler registration for users and more efficient grievance officers," said Srinivas.
The chatbot will assist users with filing complaints and appeals. AI has been utilized since last year to categorize grievances by location, down to the village level, and to filter out spam entries, ensuring genuine grievances are addressed.
As per DARPG's 2023 annual report, 19.45 lakh grievances were lodged by November 30, 2023, with 17.37 lakh citizens registered on the portal between 2019 and 2023. On average, grievances were resolved within 17 days. The Department of Financial Services (Banking Division) under the Union Finance Ministry received the most grievances (1.61 lakh), followed by the Ministry of Labour and Employment (1.50 lakh) and the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (1.15 lakh). Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of grievances among states (2.31 lakh), followed by Gujarat (45,062) and Assam (41,837).
First launched in 2007, the CPGRAMS portal (pgportal.gov.in) allows citizens to register, submit grievances, and track their progress using a unique ID. Users can also file appeals if dissatisfied with the response from the grievance officer. The portal handles various service-related complaints, such as those concerning electricity and water supply, as well as corruption allegations, though it excludes issues related to the RTI Act, court matters, and religious topics.
