Central Vigilance Commission amends corruption complaint handling mechanism; mobile number mandatory for raising complaints

New Delhi, November 15

The Central Vigilance Commission has introduced key amendments in its complaint handling mechanism such as making it mandatory for people to provide mobile numbers while raising corruption-related complaints.

Besides, it has also been decided that chief vigilance officers (CVOs), who act as a distant arm of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to check corruption, will inform people about the status of their complaints through an online platform.

The anti-corruption watchdog has also increased the timeline from one month to two months for CVOs to scrutinise and decide about action to be taken on complaints sent by the commission, according to a latest order.

It said complaints can be lodged with the CVC on www.portal.cvc.gov.in or on the commission’s website www.cvc.gov.in under the link “lodge complaints”, which is available on the home page.

“For lodging a complaint through the portal, it is mandatory for the complainant to provide mobile number so that an auto-generated OTP can be sent on the mobile number of the complainant for authentication purpose,” the directive issued to secretaries of all central government departments and chief executives of public sector banks and insurance companies, among others, said.

The order said as soon as the complaint is registered on the portal, an SMS confirming its registration and containing the complaint reference number would be sent to the complainant.

The status of complaints lodged through the portal can be tracked through e-mode only, the CVC said in the order. The earlier practice of raising complaints through post will continue.

“Complaints can also be lodged with the commission by addressing a written communication/letter to the secretary, Central Vigilance Commission, Satarkta Bhawan, GPO Complex, Block-A, INA, New Delhi-110023,” it said.

The CVC receives complaints from various sources and such plaints are being processed through the complaint management system, which has been modified to provide end-to-end information to complainants.