KARACHI: Routine work at Sindh police’s driving licence offices came to a halt on Friday after their software “crashed” due to some “technical reasons”, said an official.

He said the software developed a fault in the morning which could not be rectified till late in the evening. The IT personnel and a technical team were trying to fix the problem and the system was expected to resume operations by Saturday, he said.

According to a statement issued by the DIG licence office, the software crashed at 9am due to technical problem in the main server, its first major setback since its computerisation in 2016. The authorities though believe the hitch “is not that serious.”

The new system which is also linked with National Database and Registration Authority was to help deal with fake licences and enhance transparency.

The law-enforcement agency also introduced a smartphone application ‘Driving Licence Sindh,’ earlier this year for the convenience of applicants.

“More than 1,000 licences are issued every day but on Friday no fresh application was received, neither any licence was issued. It’s premature to call the software crash a cyber attack or an instance of hacking. Once the fault is rectified the IT and technical team will be in a better position to say something about it,” said an official at the licensing branch.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2018