Hundreds of residents of Chennai and elsewhere, who were attempting to get the mandatory e-registration to travel within the city, were left fuming on Monday as the portal crashed.
The State government, having extended the COVID-19 lockdown further by a week till June 14, had announced certain relaxations but mandated e-registration to travel by taxis and autorickshaws. Similarly plumbers, carpenters and electricians too have to complete the e-registration process in order to travel.
Several commuters complained about the difficulties in getting the e-registration for travelling in autorickshaw or taxis to their offices, and for other personal purposes, as they were unable to get the OTP for getting through the eregister.tnega.org portal on Monday. Commuters also rued the lack of clarity in the issuing of e-registrations for purposes other than medical and other emergencies.
A number of persons wanting to travel by autorickshaw found it difficult to get autorickshaws as the drivers put the onus on passengers to get the e-registration.
T. Santosh, a resident of Tambaram, complained that some taxis which have e-registration were ready to ply, but charged exorbitant fares. He said the autorickshaw drivers, citing the absence of e-registration, wanted the passengers to apply for e-registration.
A senior official of the Tamil Nadu E-governance Agency which is involved in the e-registration and issuing of e-passes said the site on Monday crashed after a large number of persons attempted to apply for e-registration. He said the site would be up and running in the evening. The official said though the State government has announced some relaxations in the lockdown, the e-pass is to be strictly issued only for three purposes of medical emergencies, attending funeral and travelling to other States.
