Track your EPIC delivery online; Telangana post offices working overtime to finish distribution

Hyderabad: With the polling date for the Telangana State Assembly elections on November 30 around the corner, the postal department has geared up to deliver all the Electors Photo Identification Cards (EPIC) booked so far. The department is securing the delivery of EPIC with three-stage alerts.

3-stage SMS alerts for voters awaiting EPIC

“Through the SMS alerts, voters registered with their mobile numbers will receive not only one but three SMS alerts at crucial stages in the process of EPIC delivery. The first SMS alert is sent upon EPIC booking, providing voters with immediate confirmation and assurance. The second SMS alert is sent when the postman is en route for delivery, ensuring voters are prepared to receive their EPICs. The final SMS alert is sent upon successful delivery,” informed NSS Rama Krishna, assistant director (BD), office of the Chief Postmaster General, Telangana Circle.

“Moreover, an end-to-end tracking facility is available for all EPICs from booking to final delivery, which can be tracked on the website of the Indian Postal Service.

API (Application Programming Interface) integration is also enabled with the Election Commission for real-time delivery monitoring. Select post offices would deliver EPICs on Sunday and Guru Nanak Jayanthi/Karthika Pournami, which is a holiday.

Special arrangements have been made for keeping 27 post offices open on November 26 and November 27, (Guru Nanak Jayanthi/Karthika Pournami) with 186 postmen given the job of delivering 66,127 EPICs.

“Earlier in this month, on Sundays and on holidays like Deepavali, 43 post offices were kept open with 409 postmen staff who delivered nearly 1.34 lakh EPICs,” informed assistant director Rama Krishna and added that voters expecting EPIC delivery are advised to make themselves available.

Delivery of e-postal ballots to 119 returning officers

In order to ensure timely delivery of Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballots (ETPBs) to returning officers (RO) of 119 Assembly Constituencies, the Telangana Postal Circle has assigned a post office to each RO, with nominated officers such as postmasters, sub-divisional heads and divisional heads providing liaison and support to district election officers (DEOs). It would help in seamless coordination and delivery of EPICs/ETPBs.

ETPBs are intended for registered service voters like personnel serving in the Armed forces, Para Military and Government of India officials posted outside India etc. Service voters can cast their votes in the printed ETPBs and send them via speed post addressed to the ROs concerned, without any postage.

As of November 24, 1,563 ETPBs have been booked, of which 461 ETPBs are already delivered to the ROs concerned. Arrangements have been put in place to ensure delivery of all ETPBs to the ROs before 8 am on December 3, 2023, informed assistant director Rama Krishna.

EPIC deliveries in Telangana so far

The postal department is working in close coordination with the ECI at the national level, chief election officer at the state level, district election officers at the district level and returning officers at the Constituency level.

Since the inspection in January 2022, Telangana Postal Circle has booked 59.78 lakh EPICs and delivered 51.41 lakh (86 per cent) EIPCs. In November 2023 alone, more than 22.46 lakh EPICs have been booked and 17.73 lakh (79 per cent) EPICs have been delivered as of November 23 from 6,269 post offices, engaging 17,015 postal staff to ensure swift and secure delivery of EPICs to the voters.

Under GHMC limits alone, 4.96 Lakh EPICs have been delivered between November 1 and 23. A total of 58,903 EPICs were returned due to improper address or due to non-availability of door numbers and voters being unresponsive to phone calls.

EPIC grievance redressal mechanism

To further enhance accountability and address voter grievances, the circle has brought in a QR-based Online Grievances Resolution Mechanism, which allows customers to report EPIC non-delivery issues by scanning a dedicated QR code Image that triggers an instant response from specialised grievances handling teams at the circle, regional, divisional and post office levels.

After resolution, customers are promptly informed via email and a random selection of complainants are given follow-up calls to reinforce transparent and efficient grievance redressal. As of November 25, seven grievances have been received and all seven have been redressed.

Request for extending time for postal ballots’ application submission

Meanwhile, in another development, G Niranjan, All India Congress Committee (AICC) member, senior vice president and chairman of the party’s Election Commission Coordination Committee (ECCC) has written to the state chief electoral officer (CEO) Vikas Raj regarding extending the time of submission of applications for postal ballots to the polling staff.

“We are receiving many complaints from our candidates and polling staff as they are facing problems in submitting applications for postal ballot papers and there is some confusion among the officers concerned in this regard. There are also complaints from some places that the polling staff could not get postal ballot papers though they submitted the applications on time by November 23.

“It seems there are thousands of such voters who are being deprived of their opportunity to exercise their votes. In view of this, please give clear instructions in this regard by extending the time up to the 27th of this month for the submission of applications,” Niranjan wrote.