eGovPH app surpasses 800 million transactions as downloads reach 56 million

The Department of Information and Communications Technology’s (DICT) flagship eGovPH app has surpassed 800 million transactions while reaching 56 million downloads, underscoring the rapid adoption of digital government services among Filipinos.

DICT Undersecretary for E-Government David Almirol Jr. said the platform’s usage surged by 700 percent over the past year, far exceeding the agency’s initial projections.

The platform is now recording 100,000 daily average downloads and has already processed more than 800 million transactions since its launch, surpassing the DICT’s original target of 30 million users by 2028.

Almirol said digitalization remains a priority program of the Marcos administration, with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. pushing to bring government services closer to the people through technology.

According to Almirol, the President wants to eliminate long lines, reduce red tape, and make transactions with government agencies faster, more convenient, and more accessible to Filipinos.

Almirol also highlighted that the eGovPH platform was developed entirely by the DICT’s own personnel, underscoring the capability of the agency’s e-government team to build and maintain large-scale digital public service platforms.

“The DICT E-Government Office had successfully developed and deployed 28 digital platforms aiming to simplify processes both back-end functions and front-end services,” he said.

The eGovPH app serves as a one-stop platform for government services, including the digital IDs; national and local government services; social welfare programs; permits and licenses; citizen complaints, and other public transactions.

According to Almirol, the platform integrates services from more than 1,300 government systems and is only one of 28 digital platforms managed by the DICT’s e-Government office. 

The continued rise in downloads and transactions shows that more Filipinos are turning to the eGovPH app as a primary gateway for accessing government services online, even as the DICT works to sustain and expand the platform. 

The rapid growth, however, has also placed significant pressure on the platform’s infrastructure. Almirol said the April service interruption, which lasted around five hours and affected several eGov services, was not caused by a cyberattack but by a surge in demand that exceeded the platform’s available cloud capacity.

“Usage surged significantly. It was like an electrical system being overloaded because demand exceeded our capacity, eventually exhausting our available cloud resources,” Almirol said.

To keep the platform running and prevent a wider outage, the DICT tapped backup systems and redundancy resources originally intended for disaster recovery. He is working closely with DBM to secure additional budgets to sustain the massive use of the 28 platforms, including the eGovPH super app, digital national ID, eLGU, eGovChain, eGovAI, and eGovCloud.

During an interview at the Philippine Blockchain Week, he was asked how to increase citizens’ trust in government digital systems like the eGovPH app.

He immediately answered. “Real adoption is the key. When citizens started experiencing convenience and efficiency, when government digital transactions became a lifestyle, when people don’t need to travel and fall in line just to avail government services – that’s when we gain their trust and confidence.” 

“People don’t need fake noises, dramas, and lip services. People are tired of complicated government systems and processes; it’s about time to give them what they deserve. It’s long overdue; we owe this to them.” He added.