Voucher registrations climb after process tweaked

The government said on Tuesday that more than three million people have now registered online for the consumption voucher scheme, after the process was fine-tuned to eliminate the glitches that caused delays earlier this week.

Over 3.2 million people had registered as of 8am on Tuesday, it said in a statement.

Victor Lam, the government’s Chief Information Officer, said the verification process was simplified, following complaints that it was too complicated.

He told a radio programme that people now only had to click checkboxes for two pictures, instead of three, adding that the procedure was needed to protect the website from being hacked.

He also called on people to contact the police if they received an SMS saying that they had registered for the vouchers when they hadn’t actually done so.

In other measures, the government said it fine-tuned the registration procedure to extend the time limit of electronic registration from 30 minutes to 45 minutes to allow ample time for the public to register.

A spokesman for the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer said members of the public using iAM Smart to register, should use their mobile app.

Previously, many people registering online didn’t have an iAM Smart account, and created new accounts as part of the registration process, creating a backlog, and causing long delays, the spokesman said.

Registration started on Sunday, but some users complained of long waits, but the spokesman said the change had significantly reduced waiting times.

He said members of the public who were not already iAM Smart account-holders had to open an account separately before using it to register for the scheme.

However, the spokesman said people could still prove their identity by answering security questions related to last year’s cash payout scheme, or by inputting personal information and uploading a copy of their Hong Kong identity card.
______________________________
Last updated: 2021-07-06 HKT 09:56