ISLAMABAD - ‘Capital Smart City’ and ‘ICT Administration’ mobile applications which were lately launched by Islamabad Administration have been hacked by India.
The applications which were introduced to create comfort and ease for the residents of the capital are not working at all at the moment.
Upon opening one of the applications to pay annual tax of the car via mobile phone, this correspondent found that the services were no longer there except for basic information like rates of taxes of different cars, location of offices etc. On further checking, The Nation learnt that none of the services like ITP, ICT Police, CDA, Eshopping, Court work etc. were applicable. When The Nation contacted Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Mr Hamza Shafqat, the official told that the applications were recently jammed by the administration of Islamabad. He revealed that owing to the Indian hackers who were stealing information from these applications, the authorities had to halt the application temporarily for the security reasons. The working is being done in this regard and we hope that a secure and protected application will be introduced in near future, said DC. Prime Minister Imran Khan had personally participated in the ceremony when these applications were introduced in the capital. At the ceremony, he said that the launching of a modern-tech mobile application will bring a revolution in the lives of the dwellers of federal capital after getting various online services at their doorstep. Speaking at the launching ceremony of the mobile App at the PM Office, he also said the App would be replicated across the country after its implementation in the federal capital.
The Islamabad Administration would provide 43 different online services through facility in collaboration with the National Information Technology Board and the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). Back then, the prime minister appreciated the launch of the services and said the provision of such facilities to the people at their doorstep would take Pakistan into the 21st century.
He maintained saying that unfortunately no facilities were provided to the common people in the past and they were compelled to run from one door to another or stand in long queues for getting basic services.
However, the applications were disrupted before they even began properly. When The Nation spoke to residents of Islamabad, it was revealed that apart from the application Darust Daam, none of the applications were working at any time after they were launched.
Dawood Hussain stated that he has never seen any of the application working except for Darust Daam which he uses often. “These city applications which look fascinating when installed and offer multiple services never work. I installed them when they were launched and have been trying them since then, but no luck,” said Dawood.