The Delhi Police launched emergency number 112 a week ago and it is already marred by ‘unintentional’ or ‘blank’ calls. The figures provided by the Delhi Police revealed that emergency helpline number 112 receives an average of 15,000 calls a day since its launch, out of which, nearly 10,000 or 65% were blank calls.
On Sunday, a total of 15,672 calls were received on 112. Out of these, 10,288 were blank calls, one enquiry call and 5,383 crime-related calls, The Times of India reported.
The problem arises after callers accidentally press the power button three times, which automatically connects an SOS call to number 112. However, a caller is required to press 8 before the call gets connected to an operator, which has proven to be an effective solution.
“Though the calls are unintentional, they get registered with the police control room. But most smartphones ask users to press 8 to continue. In the case of unintentional calls, this doesn’t happen and the blank call does not reach any operator. Hence, both time and energy are saved,” the TOI quoted a senior officer.
If a blank call is received more than once from a number, the operators call back. However, they are often told that it was made by mistake or their child was playing with the phone.
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