Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Tuesday inaugurated the Bengaluru civic body’s helpline to deliver groceries and medicines to the people. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has said that it will not allow city residents to go out to buy groceries unless there is an absolute emergency and people would have to use the helpline.
An advertisement by the BBMP on its new helpline says, “People must not step out even for the purchase of essential commodities. All essentials will be delivered to your doorsteps from now.”
Residents can call the BBMP helpline number 08061914960, or send a message on WhatsApp on the same number with their names, numbers and address. This should also come along with a list of items required.
You must say “Hi” on WhatsApp and a chatbot will send you an automated response, asking you for your location. Upon sending your location, it will ask you to send a list of all the required items in one single message or a picture of the items. You will not be able to type your address and send it. Only sending your live location works.
Once the order is placed, the BBMP’s backend team assigns the order to a Dunzo or Swiggy partner. The partner will give you a call to confirm the items. Payment has to be made after the delivery is done either by cash or via any UPI application that the partner uses.
You can choose to tell the chatbot the name of the shop you want to buy the groceries from. This is optional, BBMP officials said.
In case the store next to you already has home delivery, the customer can call the store directly.
Bengaluru has a population of more than 85 lakh people according to the 2011 census and the BBMP estimates it has touched 1.2 crore by now. Even if a fraction of this population orders groceries, vegetables and medicines on any day, that would run into hundreds of thousands of calls. The BBMP, which does not have a good track record when it comes to efficiency, claims it can manage the load, TNM had earlier reported.
Speaking to TNM, BBMP Special Commissioner Randeep Dev said that people must opt for home delivery instead of going out. He further stated that people can also opt for home delivery of groceries and medicines via Dunzo or Swiggy.
On April 15, BBMP had started mapping all the grocery and medical stores in at the zonal level. This was after a similar project was started in the South zone by BJP MP Tejasvi Surya.