After Revamping Himmat App Twice; Delhi Police Launches Himmat Plus

The Delhi Police on Tuesday released an upgraded version of their mobile app called ‘Himmat Plus’ which focuses on women’s safety. After the force’s attempt to create a successful safety app failed twice, it has now launched an updated version with a wider range of features. Delhi Lt Governor (LG) Anil Baijal launched Himmat Plus in New Delhi.

The app boasts of a QR code scanner to verify the details of the drivers of taxi, auto-rickshaw and e-rickshaw and comes in two languages—English and Hindi. Currently a pilot project, it works at Delhi Airport and five metro stations, including Anand Vihar, Vishwa Vidyalaya, Malviya Nagar, Saket and Nehru Place.

Baijal is optimistic that the app will prove useful to women commuters of the capital in stressful situations. He also hopes that the app comes alive for the entire city very soon.

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"Women are little vulnerable while traveling and when they board a taxi or an auto-rickshaw, they do not know if it is safe. This upgraded app will definitely empower them and boost their confidence while traveling," Baijal said, Asian Age reported.

Instead of calling it an emergency app, this time the Delhi Police has named it a ‘utility’ app. The user interface has also become quite simple, unlike the earlier version.

"We collected the details of 2000 taxi drivers at the airport and around 1,000 drivers of auto-rickshaws and e-rickshaws and fed in the server of the Himmat Plus app. Each driver has a 'QR card' placed in their vehicle which commuters can scan to establish the authenticity of the drivers,"

While it was first launched in 2015, Google and Apple play stores showed that only 1000 and four people had downloaded the app respectively. This had happened even after Delhi Police had renovated the app twice by the end of April last year.

Then the Delhi Police collaborated with the students of Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Okhla to come up with a better interface for the app. The students started a survey to know the challenges in the app.

"The audit revealed that the interface of the app was not sufficiently user-friendly, it was not bilingual and was not comprehensive and the registration process was cumbersome," Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik said.

The Delhi Police ran a special drive in June last year to list down details of the drivers of taxis at Delhi Airport and auto-rickshaws and e-rickshaws at the five selected metro stations.

"We collected the details of 2000 taxi drivers at the airport and around 1,000 drivers of auto-rickshaws and e-rickshaws and fed in the server of the Himmat Plus app. Each driver has a 'QR card' placed in their vehicle which commuters can scan to establish the authenticity of the drivers," Pathak said.