cVIGIL app

Election Commission of India has launched the Mobile App “cVIGIL” to enable citizens to report on violation of election code of conduct.

Utility of the application

“cVIGIL" is a user-friendly and easy to operate application that empowers Citizens to report Model Code of Conduct Violations such as bribery, free gift, liquor distribution, playing loudspeakers beyond the permissible time during the elections. By using a simple mobile app, the citizen captures the live photo or video. Every cVIGIL case is acted upon and replied back with the action taken in the 100-minute timeline. 

“cVIGIL” will allow anyone in the election-bound state to report violations of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) that comes into effect from the date of announcement of elections and goes on till a day after the polls. By using this app, citizens can immediately report on incidents of misconduct within minutes of having witnessed them and without having to rush to the office of the returning officer to lodge a complaint.

The cVIGIL app enabled voters to 

• Register Complaints: The app allows every citizen within the election boundaries to report the Model Code of Conduct / Expenditure Violations by taking photo/audio/video through their mobile phones by signing into the application. 
• Anonymous User: The app also allows the citizen to complain anonymously, without revealing their personal details/ identity. 
• Geotagging: The app automatically enables a geo-tagging feature when users switched on their camera in the cVIGIL to report a violation, which helps the field unit to know the precise location of the incident.

The vigilant citizen has to click a picture or record a video of upto two minutes’ duration of the scene of violations of the model code. The photo or video is to be uploaded on the app. The automated location mapping will be done by the app using the Geographic Information System. After its successful submission through the app, the vigilant citizen gets a Unique ID to track and receive the follow up updates on her or his mobile. A citizen can report many incidents in this manner and will get a unique id for each report for follow up updates. The identity of the complainant will be kept confidential.

Once the complaint is lodged, the information beeps in the District Control Room from where it is assigned to a Field Unit. A field unit consists of Flying Squads, Static Surveillance Teams, Reserve teams etc. cVIGIL Investigator app has been made for the Field units like Flying Squads & Static Surveillance Team to investigate the cVIGIL Citizen cases and conduct Suo-Moto case reporting. 

After a Field Unit has taken action, it messages and uploads the relevant document as ‘action taken report’ via the ‘cVIGIL Investigator’ to the returning officer concerned for his decision and disposal. cVIGIL Decider App/ Dashboard enables the District Electoral Officer (DEO) / Returning Officers (ROs) to decide upon the cases which are sent by the Investigator at the convenience of their mobile phones or system. If the incident is found correct, the information is sent to the National Grievance Portal of the Election Commission of India for further action and the vigilant citizen is informed about the action taken within a hundred minutes.

cVIGIL Observer App allows Observers and other staff authorized by ECI, to see MCC/ expenditure violation.

cVIGIL Monitor App provides access to all cases filed in the jurisdiction to Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) and ECI Officials from where they can emphasize and highlight important cases for speedy investigation and redressal. 

The app has inbuilt features to prevent its misuse. It will receive complaints only about Model Code of Conduct violations. The user will get 5 minutes to report an incident after having clicked a picture or a video. To prevent any misuse, the app will not allow uploading of the pre-recorded or old images and videos. The app will not facilitate saving of the photos or videos recorded using the ‘cVIGIL' app into the phone gallery either. Further, the application will be active only in States where elections have been announced. The moment a citizen exits an election-bound State, the app will become inactive.

Requirements for use

The app requires a smartphone equipped with a camera, good internet connection and GPS access. User is to download the app from the Playstore (for Android users) and Appstore (for iOS users)

Benefits of the Application

• cVIGIL is a convenient and user friendly app allowing citizens to send pictorial evidence of the model code of conduct violations in their vicinity.
• Each reported incident is tracked and scrutinised from the beginning to the end point, thus bringing accountability into the system.
• The immediate location verification feature of the cVIGIL will act as a strong deterrence for miscreants and wrong-doers as they can be easily tracked.
• A combination of all these factors will encourage citizens to keep vigil over unhealthy electoral practices and bring them to the notice of the Election Commission. This in turn will help the commission reach its objective of conducting free and fair elections.