E-registration portal crashes on heavy demand, restored

TRAFFIC: 60 LAKH

E-registration portal crashes on heavy demand, restored

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:08.06.2021

The government’s e-registration portal crashed on Monday after lakhs of users logged on to register and facilitate their movement for work. A select category of skilled workers including electricians, plumbers and those engaged in housing keeping and security agencies was allowed to function in the current lockdown period after acquiring e-passes.

While the process was a breeze on Sunday night, it soon became difficult as tens of thousands of people began logging in. With individuals making multiple attempts, the portal crashed and could be restored only in the afternoon.

K Ramesh, vice-president of the Tamil Nadu Air-condition, Refrigeration Engineers & Technicians Union, which is affiliated to the CITU, said he had registered on the portal on Sunday night but that it went blank since Monday morning. “Thousands of self-employed workers were desperate to avail themselves of the facility since their livelihood had been affected for about one month,” he said. Several people who did not come under the category permitted to apply also logged on and that would have increased the pressure on the system, he added.

Minister for information technology T Mano Thangaraj later told reporters that the number of hits for the portal had increased by 10-fold. “The traffic was about 60 lakh users when we expected only six lakh applicants. As soon as the crash became evident, steps were taken to restore the website,” he said. The website, https://eregister.tnega.org/, was made accessible to members of the public by 3pm, he said.

Officials in the state information technology department said that the number of hits on the portal shot up as the same individuals attempted to login multiple times affecting the server. “We were expecting only a few lakh registrations on day one, but the number overshot it,” the official added.