Thiruvananthapuram: All ration shops across the state stopped supplying essential items on Friday after e-POS machines developed technical glitches.

The Civil Supplies Department said the supply would resume on Saturday after completing the software update on the e-POS terminals.

Ration shop dealers said the glitches first appeared on Thursday; many people returned home unable to purchase due to faults in the machines. As the issue persisted for the second day, the officials decided to stop the ration supply till the software update is completed.

The software is being updated for issuing special bills for the subsidised commodities granted by the central government, sources said. The Hyderabad unit of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the central government is in charge of the maintenance of ration e-POS machines.

The Civil Supplies Department has asked the ration shop dealers to update the software on their own with the assistance of NIC's instructions. Those who tried to complete the software update on Thursday morning said it took the whole day to complete.

In some shops, the software update installation is yet to be completed. The ration supply was stopped after dealers who updated the machine faced technical issues.

Special bill
A special bill will be given to yellow and pink card holders who are eligible for the Centre's subsidised products. The revised bill, which features the logo of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, will include the price of each item, the amount to be paid by the cardholders and the subsidy rate.

Details of the grievance redressal cell are also given in the bill. Consumers can either dial 1967 or visit the website to register their complaints against the ration supply.