Technical snags at FPS hit ration buyers in city

Hyderabad: The lack of proper maintenance of network is yet again causing inconvenience to people approaching fair price shops (FPS) to buy rice in the city and suburban areas.

Ration card holders at FPS are asked to wait for a long time or return next day to get the grain as the Point-of-Sale (POS) machines are not responding properly due to faulty network. This issue is been faced by all the FPSs in the city and suburban areas. People are seen waiting in queues at FPS at several places especially in Rajendranagar to get their turn sans any hope whether they get the grain or leave the place empty handed.

It is said that after trying their fingers on Point-of-Sale (POS) machines more than once and waiting for hours, people are forced to return to their homes empty handed after being told that the network is not responding properly.

Venting frustration over the faulty network, Ravi, a resident of Shivrampally said "This is not the first time that the faulty network issue is depriving us from the grain. We face this issue every few months. At times the OTP is not generated while the fingerprint or eyries fails to respond properly. We are made to return empty handed from one pretext to another every alternate month."

"Every time we approach the FPSs in the area we are told that the network is not responding properly so wait until it is restored or come back after a few minutes or hours to get the grain. While we largely count on retail stores to buy other grains, rice is the only commodity being supplied to us through ration shops but that too is not delivered on time," bemoaned Mohd Shakeel, resident of Chintalmet in Rajendranagar.

Explaining the crux behind the issue, a FPS dealer at Hassan Nagar on the condition of anonymity said, "The network lasts only for an hour every day from 11 am to 12 pm. Though the early days of every month are considered as peak business time, network issues are mainly faced during that particular time. What is more annoying is that the public is not ready to accept that the issue is not from our side but lies at the maintenance channel."

Assistance Supply Officer Bala Saroja said, "The network issue is not confined to one place but exists throughout the State. We have apprised the higher-ups about the inconvenience being faced by card holders. What we are aware of is that the technical team is streamlining the identification process. The OTP system is being replaced with fingerprint and eyries as was there at pre-pandemic time."