A special service centre and control room has been set up at the District Supply Office on the Collectorate premises here to facilitate requests for changes or corrections to be made in the smart ration cards already issued to a section of families in the district.
According to a statement issued by the DSO, the service centre at the office can be utilised by the public in addition to all the e-service centres run by Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Limited (TACTV) in the district which have also been equipped to handle such requests.
Officials at the DSO said that a new service centre has been set up to cater to the increasing number of requests and to reduce the time taken to service the requests since all applications for change of details had to be approved by the District Supply Officer. The statement further said that requests for changes in smart cards can include removal or addition of family members’ names, changing the head of the family and change of address. On approval of the applications by the District Supply Officer, a message will be sent to the mobile number of the applicant, who can then approach the nearest e-service centres or the service centre at the DSO to get a new card printed with updated details by paying ₹ 30.
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Similarly, the public can also utilise the TACTV-run e-service centres or the centre at DSO to apply afresh for smart ration card or to apply for new card if the already issued card had been lost or damaged. To apply for new cards in case of loss or damage, the applicants should, however, know the mobile number linked with the card, to which an one-time-password (OTP) will be sent for verification.
Meanwhile, a senior official from the DSO said that the district administration has distributed smart ration cards only to nearly 50 % of the 8,53,781 lakh families eligible for receiving the card. “At this pace, it is impossible to distribute the cards to all the families by June 30, the deadline originally targeted by the State government.” the official said.