CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) has been directed to ensure there are no technical flaws in its online application system after a technical glitch prevented an aspirant from taking a competitive exam for the Village Administrative Officer (VAO) post.
K Ramanujam, the Chief Information Commissioner, said this in his recent order in response to a petition filed by one F Antony Doss. The order also directed the TNPSC to hand over the petitioner a copy of the ‘dummy’ application that was mistakenly created by the online system in place of his application.
Doss approached the State Information Commission since his petitions seeking information from the commission did not get any replies regarding the application he filed in 2015 to appear for the test for the post of VAO.
Doss had saved a screenshot of both the submission of the application as well as the acceptance of online payment. However, when he tried to download the hall ticket, he wasn’t able to do so, following which he wrote to the TNPSC. Despite Doss sending over details of payment as requested, there was no communication from TNPSC. By then, the examination had been conducted. Fraught with this situation, he filed a RTI petition.
During the recent enquiry before the State Information Commission, it came to light that a glitch in the online application system had resulted in his application vanishing into a black hole. Instead, a dummy application with fictitious details but bearing the same registration number of Doss was found in the database. The dummy application had been filed as a test sample, by the agency in charge of the online application process. This apart, a discrepancy in the online payment system was also found. Doss was found to had successfully submitted two applications, one for himself and other for his wife.
However, the same transaction ID (for online payment) was found on both the applications. In its response, TNPSC had stated that only one payment was made and it related to the petitioner’s wife’s application. The Information Commission noted that the time of debit in the bank account was after the petitioner’s application but before his wife’s. Hence, it was his wife’s application that should have been rejected.
In his order, Chief Information Commissioner K Ramanujam suggested that the Chairman of TNPSC order an enquiry into the matter and initiate preventive measures. Had the petitioner’s grievance been looked into when he first contacted, he might possibly have been allowed to write the examination subject to clearance of discrepancy about the payment.
Besides asking TNPSC to pay a financial compensation of `4,000 to Doss, the panel also directed it to give him a copy of the ‘dummy’ test application which bears the same number as his application, to enable him to pursue whatever legal remedies are available.