Launch of Mobile ID App Causes Issues with ePrescription System

The launch of the eDoklady mobile application, which offers an electronic version of a citizen’s ID, reportedly caused problems in the ePrescription system in the Czech Republic. Some people struggled to pick up prescription medication using their citizen’s ID due to issues with personal identification in essential registries.

The State Institute for Drug Control (SÚKL) reported that identifying individuals in essential registries was almost inaccessible due to the mobile application’s launch. The digital and information agency (DIA), which manages the system, emphasized that the eDoklady did not cause problems when verifying identities in the traditional way with ePrescriptions.

Around 5 PM, SÚKL announced on their website that they were no longer experiencing problems dispensing prescription drugs with a citizen’s ID. Occasional outages remained when logging in via Citizen’s Identity, added SÚKL.

The DIA launched the eDoklady app over the weekend to create an electronic variant of the citizen’s ID. The system collapsed after a large influx of users to the Citizen’s Identity. Over the weekend, about 150,000 people downloaded the eDoklady app.

According to David Slížek, editor-in-chief of the expert server Lupa, Citizen’s Identity (NIA) is a crucial eGovernment system that allows users to log in to state services. He warned that the system may not cope with the onslaught of application requirements as digital services increase and could “fall.” This is particularly noticeable when launching a new service that people are trying to try as soon as possible after its launch – as we are currently experiencing with the launch of the eDoklady application,” he said.