APR 2026
The Tribune
Delhi saw 2,663 fires in April, with about 85% traced to electrical faults.
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Using behaviour science to prevent electrical fires in Indian cities
Most electrical fires can be prevented through preventative habits by residents, shopkeepers, RWAs, and electricians. ABCD is seeking to work with Government agencies and funders to drive this habit change at city scale through effective use of behaviour science and technology.
Incubated via Dalberg · Gates Foundation · Ashoka CSBC — partnerships incl. UNICEF · NIUA · Plan International
01The problem
Electrical fires plague Indian cities especially in summers
Each year, Indian cities, Delhi among them, see a surge of electrical fire incidents that take lives and cause heavy loss. In the first five months of 2026, fire deaths in Delhi rose by about sixty-three per cent on the year before, to forty-four by the twenty-fourth of May, and the reports keep arriving, a short drive from where this will be read.
2,663
fires in Delhi in April 2026 alone
~85%
of those fires traced to electrical faults
+63%
rise in Delhi fire deaths, Jan–May 2026
From the press, this year
Each one followed a familiar sequence, an overloaded circuit, an appliance never serviced, an early warning nobody acted on, which makes this a pattern of behaviour rather than a run of bad luck, and a pattern can be changed.
02The root cause
These fires are caused by neglect and bad habits built over years
The immediate trigger is almost always the same short list: a short circuit, an overloaded circuit, or a failing appliance. But it is almost always preceded by signals weeks and months in advance that can be identified. And underlying these faults are poor decisions that get compounded over the years.
- Circuits get overloaded and the warnings get ignored
- Appliances run for years without a service
- Cheap, uncertified parts get installed because nobody checks
- Shared spaces accumulate hazards because nobody owns them
- And now EV chargers get added to wiring the home was never built for
03The gap
Efforts to enforce standards and promote awareness are not changing habits and behaviours at scale
Various agencies issue safe electrical use advisories in summer, change safety codes, and schedule inspections. But this does not drive behaviour change and still the same decisions get made, because an inspection happens once, and an advisory that lands in April is forgotten by May. People use appliances in a manner that overloads circuits, a burning smell gets ignored, a cheaper technician gets called, and an uncertified spare part gets installed.
04What is needed
There is a need to systematically change a small number of behaviours for key user segments
It is critical to promote habit and behaviour change for four pairs of actors, since a small number of behaviours and decisions can significantly reduce the risk.
Pair 01 — the resident and the RWA
The resident
- Service appliances before the peak
- Act on a smell, a spark, a tripping switch
- Check the circuit before adding load
- Buy ISI-marked components
Whenweeks before the peak, and at the first warning sign
The RWA
- Put safety on the pre-summer agenda
- Keep access routes clear
- Hold a vetted electrician list
- Run a hazard reporting channel
Whenthe pre-summer committee meeting
Pair 02 — the shopkeeper and the market association
The shopkeeper
- Get the wiring inspected
- Buy ISI-marked switchgear
- Keep exits clear
- Do not overload the line
Whenbefore peak load, and when buying new switchgear
The market association
- Run a sustained pre-summer drive
- Organise a collective hazard clearance
- Audit the shared wiring
Whenweeks before the summer peak
Pair 03 — the electrician and the aggregator
The electrician and AC technician
- Fit correctly rated MCBs and RCCBs
- Check capacity before signing off
- Run a five-point check before leaving
- Report what was found
Whenevery service visit
The aggregator, e.g. Urban Company
- Hold a pre-season service calendar
- Standardise the safety check across the workforce
- Route what technicians flag
Whenthe pre-summer window, and through the season
Pair 04 — the EV owner and the society
The EV owner
- Get a load assessment before installing a charger
- Use a dedicated circuit with an RCCB
- Choose a BIS-marked (IS 17017) charger
- Never charge off an extension cord or ordinary socket
Whenbefore the first home install, and every top-up
The housing society
- Check sanctioned load and transformer capacity
- Approve installs on one safe standard
- Keep a vetted charger-installer list
- Set basement-charging fire precautions
Whenbefore approving the first charger
05Our behaviour change programme
An adaptive behaviour-change programme addressing all critical actors, delivered through WhatsApp
A comprehensive year-round behaviour change programme delivered through WhatsApp that brings customised information, nudges, and support to all the key actors, with features that enable customisation, measurement, adaptation, and analytics for ongoing improvement.
Stream one
Residents and their RWAs
Residents enrol through their RWA and receive journeys timed to the season, ramping from weekly prompts sixty days before the peak to daily contact in the peak week, with heatwave and peak-demand signals triggering a prompt at the moment risk is highest, while the same platform gives the RWA the tools to run the drive for its members.
Stream two
Shopkeepers and their market associations
Shopkeepers enrol through their market association, which runs a sustained pre-summer drive and a collective hazard clearance for the whole row, while each shopkeeper receives prompts timed to peak load and to the moment of a new purchase.
Stream three
Electricians and their aggregators
The platform coaches technicians through the season, on pre-summer servicing discipline, a five-point check before leaving every job, and the safety conversation with the customer, because the moment a technician is standing in the room is the most trusted moment a safety message ever gets, and an aggregator like Urban Company can standardise this across its whole workforce.
Stream four
EV owners and their housing societies
As India electrifies, a car charging on tired house wiring is the newest fire risk in the building. EV owners receive journeys that ready the home before the first charger goes in — a load assessment, a dedicated circuit, a certified charger and a qualified installer — while their society gets the tools to plan shared charging safely instead of banning it outright.
06Key features
A platform that is multilingual, adapts to user personas, geography, urban topology, and weather, and can be deployed directly or through existing systems
Core capability
Adaptive, location-aware journeys
Behavioural messages are targeted to the kind of place, a high-rise society, a dense market, a standalone shop, so the nudge fits the setting.Core capability
Weather and signal triggers
Messages and nudges get customised and triggered based on live conditions, a heatwave alert, a temperature threshold, a rainfall or humidity signal, so they land when risk is rising.Core capability
Direct delivery, or through APIs built for scale
The platform can deliver messages directly or through APIs that connect to the messaging systems of partner organisations, a discom's consumer channel or an aggregator's technician app, so the programme rides existing rails and scales up quickly.Multi-cohort segmentation
Segment by premises, appliance load, and role, so each group gets the journey that fits.Season and moment timing
Cadence ramps up in frequency as summer approaches and settles into a habit-reinforcement frequency after the summer.Randomised measurement and live dashboards
A built-in experimentation and A/B testing engine, with analytics and dashboards.07What we deliver
Outcomes this would drive
The programme would drive shifts in key behaviours for people enrolled in it, and we could build features that enable self-reporting so that we could track the following outcomes.
Residents and shopkeepers
- ACs serviced before the peak
- Warning signs acted on
- Certified components purchased
RWAs and market associations
- Access routes cleared
- Shared wiring audited
- Pre-summer drive completed
Technicians
- Safety checks completed on the visit
- Risks flagged and logged
- Safety conversations had
RiskA measurable reduction in avoidable electrical fire risk across the area we cover
EvidenceA documented behaviour delta across all three groups, the reference case that proves the model
LegacyA proven model that can be quickly deployed by other cities and ULBs
We are inviting you to join us
Collaborate with us08Value proposition
The programme would deliver value to five categories of institutions
Each partner would bring certain contributions to the programme and derive unique value in return.
Delhi government and fire authorities
e.g. NDMC, Delhi Fire Services
Bringsthe public-safety mandate, access to dense neighbourhoods, and the compliance architectureValuethe demand-side complement that turns new rules into sustained behaviour
Home-services platforms
e.g. Urban Company
Bringsa structured workforce of electricians and AC techniciansValuetrained, trusted technicians and safer service visits
Appliance and component makers
e.g. Havells, Voltas, Daikin
Bringscertified products, an after-sales network, and an interest against counterfeitsValuesafer installations, fewer failures, and demand for genuine components
Power distribution companies
e.g. Tata Power, BSES
Bringsthe meter-reader workforce, the consumer relationship, and load dataValuesafer loads and a visible, measurable safety mandate
EV and charging companies
e.g. Tata.ev, MG, Ather, Tata Power
Bringsthe surge of new home-charging load and a direct stake in safe adoptionValueprotected EV adoption, safer installs, and a pre-empted regulatory crackdown
09Consortium approach
ABCD is assembling a consortium of partners to build and deploy this programme
We are actively seeking partners across three categories, each of whom enables a different part of the work.
Government agencies
We want to work with Delhi's civic and fire authorities to turn new compliance rules into the daily behaviour that actually lowers risk, since a rule sets the threshold and the programme moves the decision.
Philanthropic funders
We want to work with foundations backing urban safety and behaviour change to fund the first season and the reference case that anchors a credible scale-up across cities.
CSR teams
We want to work with companies whose responsibility connects to this risk, in home services, electricals, and power, to reach their customers and workforce and to show measurable safety impact.
10Collaborate with us
We are inviting you to join us
If this is something that resonates, we invite you to join us. You can also download the full concept note and the accompanying behavioural research.
- 01You write to us — the form or an email both work
- 02We set up a short call to understand your context
- 03We share the concept note and scope a collaboration together
About ABCD
ABCD, the Atlas of Behavior Change in Development, is a tech-driven social venture that translates behavioural science into large-scale impact. Originally incubated through a collaboration among Dalberg, the Gates Foundation, and Ashoka University's Centre for Social and Behaviour Change, ABCD now operates independently, with strategic partnerships that include UNICEF, NIUA, Plan International, and the Hindustan Unilever Foundation.