'Online GD' App: A promise turns into peril for users

Infograph: TBS

Maruf Ur Rahman lost his savings certificate cheque book in the capital's Paltan area on 20 April. The tech-savvy man, with experience of working for a telecom operator, attempted to file a general diary using the "Online GD" app on the night of 3 April.

However, his efforts spanning over two hours ended unsuccessfully as the app was running slowly, and he failed to receive an OTP. Finding no other option, on 4 May, Maruf, a resident of Mohammadpur, went to the Paltan police station and manually filed the general diary.

Maruf is among hundreds of others who flagged the difficulties in registering the diary online, which dashed the hopes sparked by the launch of digitalisation to rid people of the lumbering manual procedure. Instead, it ended up in a quagmire, leaving the service recipients to suffer as before.

On 21 June 2022, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the "Online GD" programme for the 50 police stations in Dhaka Metropolitan Police area. Now all police stations across the country are under its coverage.

To popularise the service, police have claimed that it requires just a few clicks to register lost and found cases, and people no longer need to go to police stations.

However, the reality is something different, as stated by Maruf. "The process for registering personal data on the app seems slow, and some glitches made the process troublesome even for a tech-savvy person like me."

This correspondent tried for two and a half hours on the night of 6 May to enter the app but failed to register. Initially, the app wasn't receiving the phone number required for the process, and later, the OTP wasn't delivered within the stipulated period of time.

Mostly negative reviews 

On the Google Play Store, among the hundreds of user reviews detailing real-time experiences, only a handful are positive. Among at least 300 reviews analysed by The Business Standard, only five said "user friendly and hassle-free" about the app, which is a 101-megabyte download.

The plethora of remaining comments either depict the worst experiences or state that users couldn't even register into the app to file a GD. Some even suggest not downloading the app.

On the Play Store, the app has a 2.4-star rating.

In a post on the Google Play Store on 30 November last year, Shofiuzzaman Mahi wrote, "Please make this app usable. Fix the bugs by hiring [a] good developer. Allow Email verification for login. I'm trying to log in through OTP in SIM, but no OTP is coming. Also, make the whole verification process smooth. There's lot of hassle like date of birth doesn't match, face doesn't match and etc."

TBS approached the Police Headquarters over the issues people are facing through the online GD applications. The official concerned, who developed the app and was involved in the digitalisation of the project, declined to comment. The official rather suggested talking to their public relations department.

Enamul Haque Sagor, assistant inspector general (media) at Police Headquarters, said they have a dedicated team for monitoring digital services like online GD and online police verification.

"If anyone faces any glitches or delays for a certain period of time, it doesn't mean that the entire service is not worthy. You may face some problems due to a poor internet connection and a lack of digital literacy," he said.

The official said the Online GD service is now available across the country.

Bugs and glitches 

Sohanur Rahman Shovon, an app developer and ICT entrepreneur, thoroughly analysed the app and told TBS that the app has some bugs and technical glitches.

"If the app were better, the public wouldn't face the adversaries they are having now. Such apps as Online GD should have been developed in a better way, it should be smooth and people-friendly," he added.

Bangshal resident Ashequr Rahman told TBS that he tried for two straight days to file a GD manually with the local police station, but it wasn't fruitful.

"On 9 and 10 March this year, I encountered mounting adversaries at Bangshal police station, where I had been attempting to seek assistance. To my dismay, I was informed on both occasions that the online GD register was not possible because the server was down; there is no definitive timeline for its restoration," he said with dissatisfaction.

Muhammad Shafiullah, a Dhanmondi resident, had his smartphone snatched in the Dhanmondi 7/A area on the night of 20 October. That night, he tried dozens of times to file a GD through the Online GD app, but he failed.

"The next day, I went to the Dhanmondi police station and got the GD registered manually. An on-duty officer registered the GD. When I asked why the app wasn't working, he beamed at me and replied that it happens due to glitches," he added.

A sub-inspector of a police station, wishing not to be named, told TBS, "If even the general diary is being filed in person on paper, we have to upload these applications to the server. But, if the server is down, how can I upload and give someone an approved copy?"

Professor BM Mainul Hossain, who is the chairman of the Institute of Information Technology (IIT) at Dhaka University, told TBS, "We have experienced that authorities in some cases are more interested in introducing any digital or smart service rather than maintaining and keeping the pace smoother.

"People leave reviews on the app, which means they are interested in the service. So, the authorities must ensure proper maintenance and keep an eye on the services' reviews as we have introduced the idea of Smart Bangladesh."