Metro Rail’s Online Recharge System Crashes on Launch Day Amid Heavy User Pressure
Metro rail’s newly launched online recharge platform became non-functional on its first day after being overwhelmed by an unexpected surge in user traffic. Within just four hours of its inauguration on Tuesday noon, the website rapidpass.com.bd collapsed after receiving nearly 700,000 hits.
From the afternoon onward, users attempting to register or recharge through the designated website found it completely inaccessible. The page displayed an error message reading: “An unexpected error has occurred! Please try again later.”
Earliar, users who managed to attempt transactions reported multiple technical issues. Even when entering the correct One-Time Password (OTP), the system marked it as incorrect. In some cases, the same OTP worked only after being submitted several times. The platform also repeatedly rejected valid card numbers, while allowing no more than five attempts to input them- creating further frustration.
Despite repeated efforts throughout the afternoon and evening, most users were unable to avail the recharge service, leading to widespread inconvenience among metro commuters.
The site was developed by Datasoft Systems Bangladesh Limited. According to internal sources, the platform was designed with a capacity to handle a maximum of 2,500 simultaneous visitors and allow up to 130 users to recharge at the same time during its trial phase. But between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Tuesday, the site experienced an overwhelming hit count of nearly 700,000-triggering a complete system breakdown.
The service is being coordinated by the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA). Asked about the disruption, DTCA Executive Director (Additional Secretary) Neelima Akhter said the platform likely buckled due to unusually high demand on the first day.
“There was excessive pressure today, which might have caused the issue,” she said. “We are gradually increasing the website’s capacity. Work is underway, and we hope the problem will be resolved soon.”
dbtech/RT/IK
