PIL seeking separate vaccine booking portal for Mumbai filed in HC

A public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a dedicated vaccination booking portal for Mumbai has been filed in the Bombay high court by an Andheri based teacher

A public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a dedicated vaccination booking portal for Mumbai has been filed in the Bombay high court by an Andheri based teacher. The petition has claimed that the existing Co-WIN portal is not user-friendly as it does not have a fixed opening time, hence a fixed time for booking vaccination appointments should be made available for citizens, especially those in the age group of 18-44 years. The PIL has also sought a system to ensure that senior citizens are not made to return home without getting their jabs as centres have a tendency to administer available vaccines to walk-in citizens, even though time slots have been allotted.

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The PIL filed by Yogita Rajesh Vanzara points to the fact that the vaccine booking portal does not have a fixed schedule and timing for citizens to log on and book a slot for getting jabs at the vaccination centres as a result of which precious time of people in the age group of 18-44 years is wasted in keeping track of when the booking function on the portal gets activated.

The PIL has also cited the erratic timing of the booking function becoming activated and stated, “Various centres show the availability of seats at midnight or thereafter and yet booked within seconds of the same being offered to the public.” To avoid this situation the petition has sought directions to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to open slots for booking vaccine at a pre-determined time with due intimation for a full week, instead of on daily basis.

The PIL has also raised the issue of non-availability of vaccines for citizens who have got appointments for the jab especially senior citizens who have to return home without the jab as the centres that have walk-in facilities exhaust the vaccines. In light of this, the PIL has prayed for directions to administer the vaccine to walk-in citizens only after ensuring that people who have booked vaccines through the portal are given the vaccination.

The petition also highlights the issue of citizens from economically backward finding it difficult to get vaccine bookings due to their technical ignorance or inaccessibility due to lack of a proper internet connection. The petition also points to the fact that the servers are unable to take load due to the large number of people trying to book vaccination slots.

On the issue of centres not being senior citizen and disabled friendly, the PIL has sought directions to make the centres’ wheelchair friendly as well. The petition also complains of the portal deleting bookings after which the citizen is unable to secure another booking.

In light of the above, the PIL has sought to set up a separate portal for Mumbai and to streamline the booking process by having fixed timing and providing information in real-time on the availability of vaccines at the centres. The PIL is expected to come up for hearing in due course.