Several services of the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) were affected on Monday by computer glitches following network maintenance work which lasted longer than expected. The technical problems were resolved in the afternoon, but the SAAQ expects additional delays at certain service points.
Network maintenance work was initially supposed to be limited to a few hours overnight from Sunday to Monday, but it continued on Monday. In the morning, the SAAQ recommended that citizens avoid coming to its service points if they did not already have an appointment. However, certain services were maintained at the service points, namely practical exams and recognition of driving experience to exchange licenses, said Gino Desrosiers, SAAQ media relations coordinator, in an email. It was also possible for citizens to have access to general information, compensation services and recourse to road controllers through call centers.
However, on Monday afternoon, the SAAQ announced that the technical problems had been resolved, but recommended that citizens use the SAAQclic platform in order to avoid showing up at service points. The SAAQ said it expected increased traffic and additional delays at certain service points.
“In the coming days and depending on the situation, the hours of service points will be extended in order to make up for delays caused by maintenance work,” specified Mr. Desrosiers. “We will reschedule many of the appointments that were planned for the day of October 16, all as quickly as possible. »
A complicated digital shift
The SAAQ made a lot of news last winter when it undertook its digital shift. The implementation of the new SAAQclic platform led to a significant slowdown in services. Unable to obtain services online, motorists showed up in large numbers at service points where lines grew longer day after day.
At the beginning of September, an audit report from the firm PricewaterhouseCoopers criticized the SAAQ for having underestimated the impacts of its digital transformation. In his annual report, the public protector, Marc-André Dowd, for his part, indicated that he had warned senior managers of the SAAQ of the perils of such a digital shift in the months preceding the fiasco. He was then told that “everything had been planned for a successful transition”.