Glitch in ePoS machines torments ration seekers

HYDERABAD: Tasleema tried several times to get the electronic Point of Service (ePoS) machine read her fingerprint at P Devendar’s fair price shop, located at Panjagutta in order to take her monthly ration. After her ten fingers failed to register with the Aadhar-seeded ePoS machine, she was turned away from the shop. Devendar asked her to contact the ‘checking inspector’ to authorise her ration for that month.

“Go and get your fingerprint recorded again with the Aadhar people, the checking officer will verify your identity and then I will give you your ration,” P Devendar told Tasleema. “What can I do but wait,” was all Tasleema had to say about her being denied service at the government Public Distribution System (PDS) shop due to a glitch in the system. ePoS devices were already installed at 1,645 dealer shops in the Hyderabad city. These devices have preloaded Aadhar details of the Food Security Card (FSC) holder. Thus by using the biometric identification, the leakage in the system can be minimised. The system needs remote servers containing the Aadhar details, mobile network and biometrics to work simultaneously and in tandem.

According to officials, a total of 834 people out of 5,82,771 FCS holders were denied service from April this year since the new system came into operation in the city. The glitch Tasleema faced is not something new. Denial of service were reported in the ePoS system from Ranchi district, Jharkhand where the system was first introduced on a pilot basis in 2015. Similar cases were also reported from Rajasthan where it was introduced later that year.

The Telangana civil supplies department (CSD) has made a savings of `1.1 crore for the government in six months, since the system was operational. There were plans to expand the ePoS system stae-wide  across 15,000 shops. “We are aware of the problem and we have made alternate arrangements for those in the city,” said B Balamaya Devi, chief ration officer for the Greater Hyderabad. “Here we are giving it through inspector authentication on behalf of the beneficiary. The inspector of the department will give the authentication on behalf, so people can draw their rations. Initially when the system was introduced we faced a lot of problems, now it have come down. Patience is required from the part of the dealer, they should not be turning people away,” she added.