The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Corporation's SMS facility for poll details

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Sunday, Jul 04, 2010
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Corporation's SMS facility for poll details

Deepa H Ramakrishnan

Five-digit short code soon

Residents can send text messages to 51913
Corporation to tie up with cellular service providers

CHENNAI: The Chennai Corporation will soon launch a five-digit short code — 51913 — to which residents can send text messages (SMS) to get details pertaining to elections from the civic body.

According to civic body officials, the service would provide information about presence of voters' names in the electoral rolls, address, and their respective polling station.

The Corporation is all set to get into a tie-up with cellular service providers for the short code facility. Users have to register their mobile numbers with the civic body to avail themselves of the facility.

The officials said more services would be added later.

It includes information about property tax arrears. There are over 50 lakh mobile users in the city, which is estimated to be more than Internet connections and the service is expected to be helpful to people on the move.

The civic body already has a provision for residents to make their tax payment using their mobile phones.

The civic body's existing helpline 1913 performs multiple functions, including registering complaints and booking freezer boxes and Chennai Corporation community halls. Property tax assesses can dial 1913 and pay their taxes using the Integrated Voice Response System.

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