Bengaluru’s civic body, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), has announced that it will not allow city residents to go out to buy groceries unless there is an absolute emergency. Instead, the BBMP has decided to start a helpline that will coordinate home delivery services for groceries and medicines. This facility will be rolled out as soon as possible, the BBMP said.
In an advertisement rolled out in many newspapers on Wednesday, the BBMP said that they will soon start their helpline number (80619-14960) and once the helpline is functional, all residents can only choose home delivery of groceries.
Residents can call the BBMP helpline number 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.
Once you send a message to the WhatsApp number, you will be asked for your location. This can only be done by sending your location from the WhatsApp menu, and your address cannot be sent as text. Next, the helpline will ask you to choose from two options, whether you need groceries, fruits and vegetables, or medicines. You will then be prompted to write down the required items or send a picture of the list of items needed. The helpline confirms your order and you are given an order number. “Our delivery partner will try to deliver essential items to your location. He might call you to reconfirm the items you have ordered,” the order confirmation message adds.
After this is done, you can choose to tell the customer service personnel 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.
Shops have to register
The BBMP has issued a direction to all grocery and medical shop owners in the city to register themselves with the Palike on the designated telephone number – 80619 14960. Shop owners are supposed to send “SHOP” to this number via WhatsApp. They will be asked the name of their store and what items they sell. They would have to click a picture of the store front and send it to this number via WhatsApp and tell BBMP if they are able to provide delivery services or not.
Speaking to TNM, BBMP Special Commissioner Randeep Dev said that the new service will be rolled out across the city as soon as possible. Currently, the joint commissioners and zonal heads have been asked to map all essential service shops in their respective zones. The mapping of shops is expected to be completed by Sunday.
“We are trying to map all the shops to ensure this now. Once that is done, the calls will be handled by the back end team. People can use Dunzo and Swiggy for home delivery of groceries on their respective apps also,” he added.
Randeep further stated that the service was being introduced to curb the number of people stepping out every day. “Currently, people have been going out to buy groceries everyday when we have advised against such movement. We will probably have a restriction that people can order twice in a week. That way, they can have a stock of groceries for the whole week,” he added.
BBMP Commissioner BH Anil Kumar said that delivery service personnel, including those from Swiggy and Dunzo, will be roped in for the service. A nominal charge of Rs 20 would have to be paid for each order that is placed.
He further stated that the markets. Which have been allowed to function in the mornings will continue to do so.
The BBMP’s latest decision is an extension of a project piloted in the South Zone via a Task Force set up by BJP MP Tejasvi Surya. “We have 300 volunteers who are handling the calls in this constituency. We have set up a work from home call centre system where the volunteers would be able to answer calls from their homes itself. Once the order is taken, they are being delivered to people’s homes. This was conceptualised so that poor people and senior citizens need not step outside unnecessarily,” said Gagan, media manager to MP Tejasvi Surya.
He further stated that in several suburban areas of Bengaluru, the number of delivery persons in Swiggy and Dunzo are very low compared to the Central Business District (CBD) area and certain parts of East Zone. “In many places, shops are closed, roads are closed and the delivery persons are not able to reach the stores. This is leading to a lot of people coming out of their houses and queuing up outside grocery stores. Contact must be avoided. That’s why we thought of doing this. If we map these and work with the companies in obtaining permissions etc, it will be easy for everyone,” he added.