NHAI to upgrade 1033 helpline to provide faster, better assistance on National Highways

NHAI to upgrade 1033 helpline to provide faster, better assistance on National Highways


The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is planning to upgrade its 1033 National Highway helpline with advanced technology. According to the state-owned agency, the upgraded 1033 helpline will use technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), real-time location tracking, and smart emergency-response systems to provide faster, better assistance to people travelling on national highways. It is a toll-free service that provides a variety of emergency services to people travelling on national highways.

Updated system to provide accurate location of commuter calling the 1033 helpline

The National Highways Authority of India said in a statement that these improvements will help identify the precise location of people calling the 1033 helpline, understand calls in different Indian languages, and send appropriate help more quickly. NHAI said that human operators will continue to play a vital role, especially in emergency situations where human judgment is required.ย 

According to NHAI, the new generation 1033 platform will provide features like receiving calls, providing faster help, sending help to the exact location, and instantly recording the caller’s exact location to ensure emergency teams reach the spot.

1033 helpline was launched in 2018ย 

NHAI launched the 1033 helpline in 2018, and it is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This helpline assists people travelling on national highways with medical emergencies and vehicle breakdowns, and provides assistance through ambulances, cranes, and patrol vehicles. Currently, this helpline serves more than 1,46,000 kilometres of national highways and receives approximately 15,000 calls daily. It also provides assistance in multiple languages.ย 

Indian Highways Management Company Limited (IHMCL), a company promoted by NHAI, has invited Expressions of Interest (EOI) from companies and consortia to develop, design, deploy, operate, and maintain the next-generation 1033 helpline and call centre.

The initiative requires expertise in software development, digital platforms, 24×7 call-centre operations and emergency-response services.

NHAI said companies working in mobility and ride-hailing, logistics, quick-commerce, public safety, Computer-Aided Dispatch, Voice AI and Indian-language speech-recognition technologies are encouraged to participate.

Meanwhile, a stretch of the NHAI highway, part of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, has been temporarily closed at Madanpur Khadar, the Delhi Traffic Police said in a traffic advisory.

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