SINGAPORE – A system component malfunction took national authentication service Singpass down on Tuesday morning, affecting user log-ins to government online services.

A spokesman at the Government Technology Agency, which runs Singpass, said that its team conducted unscheduled maintenance at 11.10am when it found the unspecified system component not functioning properly.

Noting that the system was not hacked, she added: “Full service resumed at 11.45am.”

However, Singpass users said the intermittent outage lasted for about one hour. Those trying to access government apps via the Singpass log-in were met with a notice that said: “Sorry, we couldn’t generate a QR code. Log in using your Singpass ID instead.”

Marketing manager John Lim, 40, said he wanted to check on his Central Provident Fund (CPF) balances as he was applying for a loan at a bank, but he was not able to log in despite many attempts to do so.

He said: “There was no communication about the outage and no one knew. It was a wasted trip to the bank.”

Some netizens who could not access Land Transport Authority (LTA) and other services complained about the Singpass outage online.

Twitter user @HSasta tweeted at 11.30am: “Is SingPass web down? #singpassdown I can’t get to my LTA message!”

User @AyamInevitable tweeted: “Can’t seem to access Singpass 2FA (two-factor authentication).”

A notice put up on CPF’s website said that its digital services would not be available from 11.30am to 2pm due to Singpass maintenance. The notice was taken down at around 1pm when Singpass services appeared to have been restored.

Checks online found that the notice did not appear on any other government websites, including Singpass’.