Bhutan’s citizen engagement & survey platform.
Government bodies, schools, NGOs and businesses run verified surveys, trade anonymized results, and reward citizens in points. Points buy data, airtime and other vouchers you can use across Bhutan.
What is SamChar?
SamChar is a citizen-engagement and survey platform built for Bhutan. Verified government ministries, schools, NGOs and businesses publish surveys of any kind — from quick feedback forms to full research instruments with file uploads and scaled questions. Citizens answer and earn points, which they spend on mobile data, airtime and other vouchers. Organizations get quality-scored responses, per-question analytics, CSV export, and the option to buy or sell anonymized aggregate results with other organizations on SamChar’s data marketplace.
How it works
Answer surveys that matter to you
Every survey shows how many questions it has and roughly how long it takes before you start. Only organizations SamChar has verified can publish one.
Earn points for each quality response
Genuine, completed answers add points to your balance. Points never expire, and you can see exactly which vouchers your balance already covers.
See what your answers changed
When an organization acts on a survey, it posts the outcome back to everyone who took part. Not a black box.
What you can actually build
Any kind of survey, not a fixed form
Ten question types in one builder: short text, paragraphs, multiple choice, checkboxes, dropdowns, linear scales, star ratings, dates, times, and file uploads (PDF, Word, images). Up to 30 questions per survey — the same tool runs a quick pulse check and a full research instrument.
Answers you can trust, not just answers
Every response is timed on the server, not the browser, so speed-running cannot be faked from the client. Add attention-check questions and opposite-answer pairs to catch careless responses automatically. Anything that looks off is held for your review, never auto-rejected — a person always makes the final call.
Real analysis, not a spreadsheet dump
Every survey gets its own analysis page: donut charts for multiple choice, distribution bars for scales and ratings, grouped free-text answers, and file attachments organized per question. Export the full response set to CSV whenever you need it elsewhere.
A marketplace for results, not just your own data
Closed a survey you opted into the marketplace? List its anonymized aggregate results for other organizations to buy. Need data instead of running a new survey? Browse what other organizations have already collected. Individual answers are never for sale — only aggregates, only from consenting adults, and never a breakdown smaller than five people.
Points that buy something real
Citizens earn points for every quality response and spend them in the rewards catalogue: mobile data packs, airtime top-ups, groceries, fuel, coffee, books. Data and airtime work on either network anywhere in Bhutan, so a respondent in Trashigang gets the same value as one in Thimphu. Citizens can also send points to each other. Nothing expires, and there is no cash payout to chase.
Your voice, on the record
- Browse surveys matched to your district and field.
- Answer honestly, earn points on approval.
- Build a participation streak, climb civic levels, see your name on the monthly leaderboard.
- Spend points on data, airtime, groceries, fuel and more in the rewards catalogue.
- See the outcome when an organization acts on a survey you answered — not a black box.
Data you can defend, priced your way
- Publish any kind of survey, from a two-minute pulse check to a full research instrument.
- Set your own reward per response and your own response target — there is no rate card.
- Fund the reward budget up front; unused budget returns to your wallet when you close the survey.
- Review flagged responses yourself before points are paid — nothing pays out automatically.
- Analyse results with built-in charts, or export to CSV.
- Buy or sell anonymized aggregate datasets on the marketplace instead of starting from zero.
Why trust SamChar
- Every organization is reviewed by a person before anything it creates is visible to citizens.
- Every response is scored for quality — speed, straight-lining, contradictory answers, attention checks — and flagged responses go to a human, never an algorithm, for the final call.
- Individual answers are never sold. Only anonymized aggregates, only from consenting adults, only in groups of five or more.
- No third-party advertising or cross-site tracking.
Common questions
What is SamChar?
SamChar is a citizen-engagement and survey platform for Bhutan. Verified government bodies, schools, NGOs and businesses publish surveys, citizens answer them and earn points, and organizations can analyze results or trade anonymized aggregate data with each other.
Is SamChar only for feedback surveys?
No. SamChar supports ten question types, including file uploads, scales, and multiple choice, across up to 30 questions per survey. It runs everything from a one-minute feedback form to a full research questionnaire.
Is SamChar free for citizens?
Yes. Creating an account and answering surveys is free. Citizens are the ones being paid, never the ones paying.
How do citizens get paid?
Each survey shows its reward before you start. When a response is verified, points are added to your balance. You spend those points in the rewards catalogue on mobile data, airtime top-ups, grocery, fuel, coffee and bookshop vouchers. SamChar does not pay cash to citizens, so points are only ever spent on SamChar.
What can I actually get for my points?
Mobile data packs and airtime top-ups on either Bhutanese network, which work anywhere in the country, plus grocery, fuel, bus travel, streaming, bookshop and stationery vouchers. Cafe and restaurant vouchers are currently limited to Thimphu, and every reward says so on its own card. Vouchers arrive as a code you can see in My redemptions and use straight away.
How much does SamChar cost an organization?
The organization sets its own price: it chooses the reward a respondent receives and how many responses it wants. That whole reward budget is taken from its SamChar wallet when the survey is activated, plus a platform fee charged as a percentage of the budget. Any budget not spent is returned when the survey closes.
Who can publish a survey on SamChar?
Only organizations a SamChar administrator has reviewed and approved. Nothing an unverified organization creates is visible to citizens.
What stops people from submitting junk answers for the points?
Every response is scored automatically for response speed, straight-lining, contradictory answer pairs, and attention checks. Flagged responses are held for the organization to review before any points are paid — nothing is rejected automatically. A person decides.
What is the SamChar data marketplace?
Organizations that close a survey and opted it into the marketplace can list its anonymized aggregate results for other organizations to buy. Individual answers are never included. Any breakdown smaller than five people is hidden, and responses from anyone under 18 are never included, regardless of consent.
Can organizations analyze their own results without exporting?
Yes. Every survey has a built-in analysis page with charts per question, plus a one-click CSV export for anything you want to work with elsewhere.
What is a point worth?
Points are not currency and have no cash value outside SamChar, and they cannot be exchanged for money. Every reward in the catalogue shows what it costs in points and what the voucher is worth in Ngultrum, so you can see the value before you spend anything.