The return to normal in the branches of the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) will take even “longer than expected”, concedes the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault. It now sets August 12 for the full end of the crisis, rather than the end of July as planned.
“We expect the situation to be restored to normal around August. We are talking about August 12 rather than July 29, which was planned, so it takes longer than expected, ”Mr.me Guilbault, during a press scrum held at the National Assembly, in Quebec.
She argues that the SAAQ is facing “more storage and de-storage operations” this year “compared to usual”. “We are already in the somewhat difficult context of the digital transition, so we really encourage people to register with SAAQClic and do the transactions online as much as possible. »
Saying that she is aware that the crisis is “very unpleasant”, Mme Guilbault nevertheless assures that the systems work “very well for most people”. “Myself, I just received my renewal and I am registered online. And really, it’s done well, ”she said.
“We had issues with women who had the name of the spouse and all that. We’re sorting it all out. Otherwise, the IT issues, we settle them as we go along. We also make sure to open on Saturdays also for making appointments in several service centers, ”added the elected official.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, ARCHIVES SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Genevieve Guilbault
The latter also recalled having adopted several measures to relieve users, such as the reprieve granted to motorists directly affected by computer failures. Citizens whose driving licenses expire between March 9 and March 1er June 2023 have 90 more days from their anniversary date to pay their renewal fees.
Still a lot of queues
On Wednesday, wait times were still high in several regions, with wait times exceeding 40 minutes in Saint-Apollinaire, Saint-Eustache, Repentigny and Berthierville, in particular.
On the island of Montreal, queues were again seen in the Pointe-aux-Trembles sector, where the average waiting time was around 35 minutes. Ditto in the city center, at the service center on rue Saint-Jacques, piloted by CAA-Quebec. At the SAAQ branch in Sept-Îles, you also had to wait 35 minutes on average.
Last week in The Pressthe spokesperson for the Société d’assurance automobile, Geneviève Côté, had maintained that “many customers” still come to the branch, when they “could have avoided the wait by using digital services”.
“For example, for discount transactions or transfer of ownership between individuals for a passenger vehicle, the fastest route is SAAQclic, but we still receive a lot of customers for these transactions at service points,” she noted. .
At the Union of Public and Parapublic Service of Quebec (SFPQ), President Christian Daigle, he believes rather that “several problems persist at the computer level, pushing people to move”. “It greatly irritates users, who pour their gall on our members. We can understand them, but we have to see that bugs also delay the work of employees, ”he explained.