KARACHI: The ambitious ‘People’s Motorcycle Petrol Subsidy Program’, announced by Chief Minister of Sindh the other day, hit a digital dead end within 24 hours of its launch, as the official registration portal buckled under the weight of hundreds of thousands of desperate applicants.
Launched by the Excise and Taxation Department to provide a one-time relief of Rs. 2,000 to motorcyclists, the platform reported a total crash on April 6. While the government touts the initiative as a lifeline against skyrocketing petrol prices currently hovering above Rs. 378 per litre, the ground reality for many has been a screen of server timed out errors.
The crash comes as no surprise to critics, given that the program targets approximately 6.7 million registered motorcycles in the province.
Social media was flooded on Monday with screenshots of failed registration attempts. One delivery rider in Karachi lamented that it feels like a cruel joke, noting that petrol is at a record high and the state’s infrastructure cannot handle the traffic when relief is finally offered.
Despite the widespread downtime, the portal remains the only primary channel for registration. No official maintenance notice or downtime alert was posted on the site, leaving users to wonder if the problem lay with their internet connection or the government’s server capacity.
The Missing Mobile App
Adding to the confusion is the absence of the promised mobile application. While the Sindh government initially hinted at a dedicated app for a smoother user experience, no official launch date has been provided. For now, the program is limited to motorcycles registered in the Sindh Excise database under the applicant’s name, with payments scheduled to commence after April 15 via digital wallets for verified users. Although an app is promised soon, the lack of a specific timeline amid these technical failures has increased public skepticism.
Meanwhile, with the official portal struggling, the Sindh government and cybersecurity experts have warned citizens against downloading unofficial or third-party subsidy apps circulating on WhatsApp and unofficial stores, or responding to ponzy SMS. Officials have warned that desperation breeds opportunity for scammers and have urged citizens to only use the official link, adding that no government official will ask for an OTP or bank PIN for this subsidy.
