BESCOM’s Mithra application leaves users befuddled

Bangalore

Users demand a bug-free application with a better interface to locate electric vehicle charging stations in Bangalore.

Electric vehicle (EV) users in the city face difficulty assessing locations of EV charging stations. Launched by Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM), the application has been receiving a lot of flak due to shoddy user experience.  

Uday Bhaskar, EV Mithra user, said that bugs pop up when one tries to pull up numerical keyboard in iOS software. “This bug must be checked in iOS15 and a solution must be provided,” he said.

Wakee, another user, said, “The user interface is horrible and you can’t even check the locations of active chargers.” He said that the application has to be made user friendly and the developers must think about making it more productive.

Homesh, EV Mithra user, said that the maps don’t work and visibility is an issue. “They have to fix the issues as soon as possible given it is the only application that helps us find EV charging stations,” he said.

There are 136 charging ports around the city and BESCOM is planning to install 300 more in 2022. The application was launched in December 2021 to help EV users locate charging ports in the city. There are about 18,000 electric vehicles in Bangalore including two wheelers and four wheelers as stated by BESCOM.

Electreefi is another application that was used before the launch of EV Mithra. Users said that the Electreefi application was navigation-friendly with fewer bugs and more stability.

Kumar, previous Electreefi user, said that Electreefi was much better and delivered a better performance as compared to EV Mithra. “We are facing a hard time locating the charging stations. I feel Electreefi had a better interface as compared to Mithra,” he said.

An official from BESCOM said that only Apple iOS users are facing the glitch while the application works fine on Android. “We are continuously working on improving the user experience,” he added.

Kishley Rathore, Android user of EV Mithra, said that the application works fine but hangs occasionally. “It runs smooth but sometimes it takes a while to load,” he added.

“It is always important to listen to the users and improve working on the feedback to receive better user flows,” said Arash Bal, user experience designer. He said that application performing interfaces (API) and MapmyIndia go hand-in-hand to deliver bug-free application followed by reducing excess clutter and showing information that is relevant to the user. “The developers must be able to guide the users to be able to interact with the application and guide them through primary use-case,” he added.

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