Airtel and FICCI Ladies Organisation launch Women’s Safety app – My Circle

The OTT app, available as a free download on iOS and Android, is open to users of any mobile network   

Mumbai, April 14, 2019: Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), India’s leading telecom services provider, and the FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO), the women business wing of apex trade body FICCI, launched a carrier agnostic safety app – My Circle which has been is designed to empower women in the event of any distress or panic situation.  My Circle app enables women to send SOS alerts to any five of their family or friends in 13 languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi, Bangla, Urdu, Assamese, Oriya, and Gujarati. The SOS alert can be launched by simply pressing the SOS prompt on the app. It can also be activated via voice command through Siri on iOS. The voice activation via Google Assistant will soon be available on Android devices also.  

It will instantly send an SOS alert along with the user’s location over SMS to the five contacts selected by the user and advise them to immediately reach out/respond to the emergency situation. The app operates by estimating the accurate location of the user which their family/friends can track real time on a link that is sent as part of the alert SMS.

My Circle app has been fully developed by Airtel X labs and was conceptualized by an all-women cross functional team. The free to download app is now available on Google Play store (Android) and will be available on App Store (iOS) soon. The app can be installed by both Airtel and non-Airtel customers.  

Ms. Harmeen Mehta, Global CIO and Head of Digital, Bharti Airtel said “My Circle app is an effort by Airtel towards building a safer environment for women. We have leveraged the power of technology to empower women with a simple and intelligent tool that can respond in real time during an emergency situation.”

“My Circle app would act as a deterrent to crime against women, and would empower and make them more confident while travelling. Women are little vulnerable while travelling and when they board a taxi or an auto-rickshaw, they do not know if it is safe. This upgraded app will definitely empower them and boost their confidence while travelling," said Ms Pinky Reddy, Immediate past President, FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO).

“This apart from being an emergency App is also a utility app developed by Airtel as it has simplified the process of downloading and registering“, said Ms Avantika Dalmia, Member governing body, FLO.

How to use My Circle app

1.     Download the app and register 

2.     User will receive OTP to verify identity

3.  Add details of five people you are close with and who are most likely to reach out for help

4.     Select language settings

5.     Get started 

About Bharti Airtel Limited : Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 18 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 3 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed home broadband, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G, 4G wireless services and mobile commerce. Bharti Airtel had over 403 million customers across its operations at the end of Dec 2018. To know more please visit, www.airtel.com