NID Services Restored After 8-Hour Disruption Due to OTP Issue
NID Services Restored After 8-Hour Disruption Due to OTP Issue. The National Identity Card (NID) services in Bangladesh resumed on Tuesday evening after experiencing an 8-hour-long disruption caused by a technical glitch related to the One-Time Password (OTP) system. This temporary issue had put several citizen services on hold, affecting thousands of people nationwide.
NID OTP System Failure: What Really Happened?
On Tuesday, from 10:00 AM to 6:30 PM, the Election Commission (EC) encountered a technical failure in its OTP-based login system, which is essential for accessing the NID server.
According to ASM Humayun Kabir, the Director General of the NID Wing, the OTP is a critical part of the secure login mechanism. Officials across the country are required to enter the user ID and password to access the NID portal, which includes the OTP as a critical part of the secure login mechanism.
Due to the OTP system failure, Election Commission officials were unable to log into the server. Consequently, all operations, including NID corrections, transfers, and new voter registrations, were suspended for the entire day.
However, NID Verification Remained Active
While data entry and updates were affected, the NID verification service — a vital function used by government and private organizations to validate a citizen’s identity — remains operational. These measures ensured that banking, SIM registration, and other verification-dependent services continued with minimal interruption.
Impact on Public Services and Citizens
The sudden halt in NID services created widespread difficulties for the public. Every day, a significant number of citizens submit applications for:
- NID corrections
- Change of address or area
- New voter enrollment
- Duplicate NID issuance
- Digital service integrations
With over 125 million registered voters on the EC database, even a short service disruption can cause a substantial backlog. Many people rely on timely updates to their NID for accessing education, healthcare, social security schemes, and banking services.
According to officials, service delivery was disrupted across all regional and upazila election offices. Due to the technical failure, officials asked people who visited these offices on Tuesday to return the following day.
Face Recognition Login Provided Partial Relief
Interestingly, despite the OTP failure, some Election Commission officers continued to access the system using an alternative facial recognition login method. This fallback feature allowed a limited number of NID-related operations to continue, albeit on a smaller scale. However, this was not widely implemented across all branches.
Technical Recovery and Future Improvements
According to the official statement, we restored the OTP functionality by 6:30 PM, and we expect all NID services to function normally from Wednesday. The Election Commission’s IT department worked throughout the day to identify the source of the problem and resolve it without compromising security.
The Director General also assured the public that steps are being taken to upgrade system resilience, implement multi-channel login mechanisms, and avoid such disruptions in the future.
Public Reaction and Concerns
Many citizens voiced frustration over the halt in services. Those who had taken leave from work to visit election offices felt inconvenienced. Particularly affected were applicants for urgent NID updates, particularly students, job seekers, and migrants.
The EC, however, clarified that they will extend support to reschedule appointments and prioritize pending applications in the coming days.
Conclusion
This incident serves as a reminder of the importance of digital infrastructure in public service delivery. The quick recovery by the Election Commission is commendable, but it also illustrates the importance of robust backup systems and user-friendly alternatives like face recognition or biometric login.
