The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has published a consultation paper for the implementation of a single number-based integrated emergency communication and response system (IECRS) across the country. The regulatory authority has recommended that the number ?112? should be adopted as the single emergency number in India. Calls made from a landline or mobile connection to the emergency number will be routed to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) which is akin to a call centre.
According to TRAI, the number of PSAPs in a state or a union territory will be decided by their respective governments, however the regulatory body has stated that every state and union territory must have at least one PSAP each. Meanwhile, existing emergency helplines such as 100 (police), 101 (fire), 102 (ambulance) and 108 (emergency disaster management) will have to be retained. However, calls made to these numbers will have to be rerouted to 112 for termination with an announcement to the caller to dial 112 as emergency number in the future.
TRAI has also stated that access to the IECRS should be permitted to those mobile and landline phones where outgoing calls have been barred or service is suspended temporarily and that calls made to the IECRS should be prioritised on cellular mobile networks. Further, IECRS should also be accessible through SMS. In addition, the regulatory body has recommended that service providers will have to give location specific information and details of a caller to the IECRS and proposes setting up four regional database centres, one each in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. BSNL will be responsible for setting up these data centres and operating them. TRAI has recommended that PSAP operators should be able to handle calls in Hindi, English and the local language of a state.
Earlier, TRAI had asked Vodafone India to stop using ?111? for providing information regarding customer services as it was in violation of the national numbering plan.
