NEW DELHI: After the newly appointed Delhi Food Commissioner recently again decided to continue the use of e-PoS machine for distribution of ration, overruling an order by both the Delhi government and Lieutenant Governor, the Delhi government on Friday again passed an emergency order to suspend the use e-PoS machines.
"Distribution of ration through e-PoS (electronic point of sale) has been suspended temporarily with immediate effect. Hence, distribution will be made manually to the cardholder as earlier," noted Friday's order.
A week into his appointment, Food Commissioner Mohan Jeet Singh had overruled LG Anil Baijal's orders – wherein the latter had concurred with the Delhi government's proposal of suspending e-PoS devices for ration delivery – and issued an order to restore ration disbursal through e-PoS system to beneficiaries of the public distribution system (PDS).
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had earlier demanded the LG to stop the existing e-PoS system, under which beneficiaries are given ration through biometric identification.
Earlier, Delhi Food and Civil Supplies Minister Imran Hussain had also written to the LG with the same demands.
Ration dispersal in the Capital is being done through e-PoS since January 1.
However, due to internet connectivity issues at various fair price shops, a new system was introduced on March 1 under which if e-PoS machines were not working, PDS beneficiaries would get ration after they received an OTP (one-time password) on their registered mobile number.
Sisodia, however, said the government had found cases where ration for 499 houses was given to one mobile number via OTP.