The ‘Easy Registration System’—launched with claims of enhancing public convenience and curbing corruption—is increasingly becoming a major source of trouble for the public. Due to technical glitches and a website that frequently crashes, property registration work is being disrupted on a daily basis. The same situation was witnessed at Sub-Registrar offices on Tuesday, when the Easy Registration System website suddenly went offline around 3:25 PM, bringing the work of property registration and document approval to a complete standstill across the entire state.
A large number of people had gathered at the Sub-Registrar-1 and Sub-Registrar-2 offices—located within the District Administrative Complex—as early as the morning to get their properties registered. However, as soon as the website crashed in the afternoon, all operations ceased, forcing people to wait for hours. The elderly, women, and persons with disabilities, in particular, faced immense difficulties. Furthermore, anxiety was clearly visible on the faces of applicants who had already transacted large sums of money for property deals and had arrived at the office to complete the registration formalities, as the delay threatened to jeopardize their transactions. With the system down, their work was left hanging in limbo.
After remaining offline for over two hours, the website finally became operational again at 5:30 PM; however, by then, the situation had already deteriorated further. Even after the site was restored, approval could only be granted to the documents of those individuals who had already secured a token earlier in the day. Those who had not yet managed to obtain a token were left with no choice but to return home in disappointment. During this ordeal, several applicants ended up returning home empty-handed after enduring a long and fruitless wait. The public expressed that, far from alleviating their troubles, the Easy Registration System has only compounded them; they lamented that recurring technical glitches were resulting in a sheer waste of both their time and money.
Sub-Registrar-1 Gurpreet Singh, Joint Sub-Registrar-2 Jagtar Singh, and Joint Sub-Registrar Ravneet Kaur also appeared helpless in the face of this situation. Officials had no clear answer regarding when the system would be back online, a lack of clarity that further fueled public frustration. People alleged that while the government had indeed implemented a digital system, it had failed to prioritize its technical robustness and ensure its smooth operation. If this situation persists, the general public will lose faith in this entire system. **Today’s Slots Already Full; Rescheduling Appointments Becomes a New Ordeal for Applicants**
The impact of the stalled “Easy Registration System” has not been limited to just a single day’s inconvenience; it has now become a source of difficulty for applicants over the coming days. Those whose property registrations or other documents could not receive online approval on April 21 will now have to endure an additional wait of at least two days.
According to reports, the online appointment slots for April 22 at the Sub-Registrar-1 office are already fully booked. Consequently, applicants affected on April 21—who must now reschedule their appointments through professional facilitators—are being offered April 23 as an alternative date; however, the situation remains challenging even there.
According to sources, the slots for April 23 are also filling up rapidly. If this day, too, becomes fully booked, many applicants will be compelled to wait for a subsequent date. This is having a direct impact on individuals who have already finalized their property-related transactions and now face an increased risk of having their funds tied up due to delays in registration.
Applicants state that a single day of system downtime has completely disrupted their entire schedules. The repetitive process of booking appointments, preparing documents, and then facing further postponements is resulting in both wasted time and escalating additional expenses. The public has demanded that the government make special arrangements in such instances to prioritize the registration of affected applicants, thereby sparing them from having to face repeated hardships. 97-Year-Old Man Arrives in Wheelchair, Returns Disappointed; Outrage Erupts Against the System
The most distressing consequence of the flaws in the “Easy Registration System” came to light when 97-year-old Baldev Singh was subjected to undue hardship. Arriving at the Sub-Registrar-1 office in a wheelchair accompanied by his family, Baldev Singh repeatedly attempted to present his grievance to the officials, only to find himself enduring a prolonged wait in the waiting hall. However, as the website remained non-functional, he was ultimately forced to return home without having his work completed. Similarly, at the Sub-Registrar-2 office, a 90-year-old woman—who had come to get her will approved—spent her time waiting inside a car along with her family members. When the website failed to become operational even by 5:00 PM, she, too, departed in disappointment.
