By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, MAR 29, 2024: THE cVIGIL app of Election Commission of India has become an effective tool in the hands of people to flag election code violations. Since the announcement of General Elections 2024, over 79,000 complaints have been received as of today. Over 99% complaints have been resolved and close to 89% of these complaints have been resolved within 100 minutes. Speed and transparency are the cornerstones of cVIGIL app.

More than 58,500 complaints (73% of the total) received are against illegal hoardings and banners.  More than 1400 complaints received pertain to money, gifts and liquor distribution. Close to 3% of the complaints (2454) pertain to defacement of property Out of the 535 complaints received for display of firearms and intimidation, 529 have already been resolved. 1000 complaints reported were for campaigning beyond the prohibited period including use of speakers beyond permitted time.

cVIGIL app marks a significant leap forward in electoral oversight and reducing campaign clutter. It may be recalled that in the press conference for the announcement of the General Elections 2024, Chief Election Commissioner Shri Rajiv Kumar had urged citizens to be vigilant and use the app to report model code of conduct violations and distribution of any kind of inducements to voters.

cVigil is user-friendly and easy to operate application, which connects vigilant citizens with the District Control Room, Returning Officer and Flying Squads Teams. By using this app, the citizens can immediately report on incidents of political misconduct within minutes and without having to rush to the office of the returning officer. As soon as the complaint is sent on the cVigil app, the complainant will receive a unique ID through which the person will be able to track the complaint on their mobile.

A trinity of factors working simultaneously makes cVIGIL a success. Users capture audios, photos or videos in real-time, and a "100-minute" countdown for time-bound response to complaints is ensured. The app automatically enables a geo-tagging feature as soon as the user switches on their camera in the cVIGIL to report a violation. This means that flying squads could know the precise location of a reported violation, and the image captured by citizens could be used as evidence in the court of law. Citizens can also report complaints anonymously.

The app is one amongst the armoury of Apps built by the Commission to leverage technology and facilitate voters and political parties.