The Union government is set to introduce an AI-powered chatbot aimed at streamlining the process for citizens to file complaints and appeals on its centralized public grievance redressal portal. This initiative, as reported by The Indian Express, comes in response to the large volume of public grievances lodged annually.

The chatbot will be integrated into the existing Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS), managed by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG). This portal enables users to submit grievances to any Union or state government ministry or department.

According to DARPG Secretary V. Srinivas, the government is already leveraging AI to categorize grievances into approximately 22,000 different categories. The upcoming chatbot, developed by Bhashni—a division of the Digital India Corporation—will enhance user experience by simplifying complaint registration and improving the efficiency of grievance officers. The next generation of CPGRAMS is also being developed, with an expected completion date of June 2025.

The chatbot will assist users in navigating the complaint-filing process. Since last year, AI has been employed to classify grievances based on their geographical location, down to the village level, and to filter out spam submissions from genuine complaints.

In terms of statistics, the DARPG’s annual report for 2023 highlights that by November 30 of last year, the portal had received 19.45 lakh grievances. From 2019 to 2023, a total of 17.37 lakh citizens registered on the portal, with grievances typically resolved within an average of 17 days. Among the departments with the highest number of grievances were the Department of Financial Services (Banking Division) of the Union Finance Ministry, which received 1.61 lakh complaints, followed by the Labour and Employment Ministry with 1.50 lakh, and the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare with 1.15 lakh.

At the state level, Uttar Pradesh reported the most grievances in 2023, totaling 2.31 lakh, followed by Gujarat with 45,062 and Assam with 41,837.

Launched in 2007, the CPGRAMS portal (pgportal.gov.in) allows citizens to register grievances, track their status using a unique ID, and file appeals if they are dissatisfied with the responses from grievance officers. The portal accepts various types of complaints, including service-related issues such as electricity and water supply problems, as well as allegations of corruption against government officials. However, it does not address matters related to the Right to Information (RTI) Act, court cases, or religious issues.