India could soon have its own emergency helpline number ‘112’ similar to America’s ‘911’.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Tuesday has proposed a single number ‘112’ for all emergency calls across the country including for ambulance, fire brigade, and police.
However, access to emergency facility should not be allowed from mobile handsets or devices which do not have a Sim, it said.
“Authority recommends that the number 112 be adopted as the single emergency number for India. This new number may be popularised extensively through a public awareness campaign by the Government,” the regulator said.
As of now, there are different numbers for each service, such as 100 for police, 101 for fire service and 102 for ambulance. TRAI has also suggested that the existing emergency numbers be retained as secondary numbers.
“For ensuring quick and timely intervention by the responding agencies such as police, fire brigade, and hospitals, it is necessary that there is a seamless communications network in place which facilitates persons in distress to access these agencies from anywhere, at anytime, and get a properly coordinated and timely response,” it said.