So the CNSS has been hacked and a file containing the remuneration of policyholders, even high-ranking ones, has been leaked.
This was neither very serious nor very desirable.
After the CNSS, our hackers, no doubt Algerian, attacked the files of the Land Registry, then the site of the Ministry of Justice. And perhaps the website of the Office des Changes, which for five days from Monday 23 June consistently displayed “The website encountered an unexpected error. Please try again later.”
A wind of panic blew over our administrations and their IT managers.
It smelt of very regular maintenance. You’re working and poof! you’re disconnected, site under maintenance. This particularly affected the CNSS site, damancom.ma and the DGI sites, including directinfo.ma.
Increasingly illegible captchas were appearing.
Not a mad wasp, the CNSS decided that captchas were not enough.
And since 23 June, with absolutely no warning, it has set up access via “Mon E-id”, the Moroccan digital identity system.
Digital identity: not so widespread in Morocco
To take advantage of this system, you need :
- an electronic identity card
- an NFC-compliant telephone capable of reading the card
This electronic identity card was launched in August 2020. Given that the CIN is valid for ten years, there are probably still half of Moroccans who have an old card. But, according to the government, 80% of CINs are in electronic format.
There are also a significant number of holders of the ten-year residence card who, like me, have no desire to go through the renewal process to get an electronic residence card.
What’s more, only 30% of Moroccan phones are compatible with the NFC standard, and they start out at prices that are by no means negligible: 2,700 to 2,800 dirhams, most of them more than the minimum wage.
You might ask, if you’re a company director, do you have the money to buy a nice phone? No doubt, but not always. And then it’s not the company director who makes the declaration, it’s his accountant, his office manager, who may not feel like spending half a month’s salary on a phone, out of the blue, just before the holidays…
Now, without warning!
It’s a bit like demolishing houses on coastal land, except that the user who tried to connect on Monday morning was perfectly within the law.
While the digital identity site states that
Every citizen can choose whether or not to activate their digital identity
the CNSS forces the citizen’s hand in a brutal manner.
The DGI, on the other hand, uses a method that is much easier for the average person, sending a confirmation code by e-mail each time they log on. CNSS does not do this.
Given that it takes at least a month, and often six weeks, to obtain a new residence permit (and that we’re approaching the summer holidays, when administrative efficiency drops), foreigners are stuck either way!
Chartered accountants take to the streets
For a firm that manages hundreds of accounts for its clients, this marvellous idea implies making as many applications to create an account, via the manager/client who has to sign and seal the application “in person” (since it is no longer possible to access the site to make online applications).
The various associations of chartered accountants have therefore sent letters to the CNSS, all containing the same arguments:
Translation :
Request for a postponement of the implementation of the new system of access to CNSS services
Mr. Director, the chartered accountants, members of the Professional Organisation of Chartered Accountants, would first of all like to welcome the efforts made by CNSS to strengthen data security and modernise digital services, an initiative which demonstrates a commendable desire for continuous improvement and protection of the sensitive data of insured persons.
However, we would like to inform you of the major constraints encountered by the Chartered Accountants during this period, in particular during the month of July 2025, marked by an exceptional and considerable workload in terms of legal, fiscal and social obligations.
In this context and in order to guarantee a smooth and efficient transition to the new system of access to CNSS services, we would kindly ask you to consider postponing its introduction and implementation until next SEPTEMBER.
In addition, the Chartered Accountants are requesting the organisation of information meetings and dedicated training days, in order to better understand the functionalities of the new system and to ensure its simple, secure and effective use by all the professionals concerned.
Lastly, we suggest that you study the possibility of grouping access to several clients under a single identifier, or any other technical measure facilitating the integration of large client portfolios, in order to guarantee centralised and rationalised access to CNSS services.
Thanking you in advance for your understanding and cooperation, please accept, Mr Director, the expression of our most distinguished greetings
Ahmed RAMI
President of the Council of Chartered Accountants Casablanca – Settat Region
And all the while, CNSS is rowing along
The CNSS was overloaded with requests to create users.
In our case, it was a bit unusual: the person who did the CNSS declarations had just left, so I had made requests to create users the previous Thursday, and it was when I was trying to log in that I discovered the change in procedure.
So we made an emergency ‘manual’ user creation request, so that we could access the site with an account that could use My E-ID.
Once on the site, everything was in error. It was impossible to do anything, and we had to wait 24 hours for the situation to stabilise.
On the other hand, the new requests made via the site were not processed within the normal timeframe (creation of an additional user, registration of new employees, etc.) and today, Monday 7 July, the site displays a marvellous blank page.
CNSS finally backs down, Moroccan-style
Blank page certainly linked to the modification of access procedures. In fact, after a meeting held on Friday 4 July with the Conseil National de l’Ordre des Experts Comptables (National Council of Chartered Accountants), which I am quoting (bold is added by me):
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Following difficulties encountered by several members of the Ordre in accessing the Damancom portal, particularly when entering periodic declarations, a working meeting was held on Friday 4 July 2025 between the National Council of the Ordre des Experts-Comptables and the CNSS, at the initiative of our President.
At this meeting, the National Council noted the CNSS’s desire to strengthen the security of access to the Damancom portal, through the introduction of multi-factor authentication, in particular via the Digital Identity (e-ID) issued by the DGSN.
While supporting this objective of securing personal and professional data, the National Council drew the CNSS’s attention to the operational constraints that this transition may entail. It therefore called for more flexible access arrangements, particularly for users experiencing difficulties with the e-ID.
Following this constructive discussion, CNSS has confirmed that, from Monday 7 July 2025, access to Damancom will be possible :
- Either via the DGSN e-ID,
- Or by OTP (one-time code) sent by SMS, and exceptionally this month, also by email.
With this in mind, and to ensure that the OTP code is received correctly, we strongly recommend that you update your Damancom user accounts and personal details (mobile phone number and email address).
In addition, in response to the National Council’s request and to enable all affiliates to adapt to these new arrangements, the CNSS has decided to grant an exceptional extension of the deadline for declaring and paying contributions until 17 July 2025, in respect of the month of June 2025, without the application of penalties.
Finally, the two institutions have agreed to maintain an open dialogue during this transitional phase, in a spirit of collaboration and continuous improvement, for the benefit of members and professionals.
We thank you for your vigilance and remain at your disposal for any difficulties you may encounter.
Yours sincerely
Faïçal MEKOUAR
Chairman
Clearly, CNSS
- definitively backtracks on the obligation to use digital identity
- implicitly acknowledges that user data is probably not very up-to-date
- recognises that the problems are such that it is essential to postpone the declaration dates.
It’s a very Moroccan method: you put it in place, you see if it works, if it doesn’t, you go back. Another method would have been :
- to warn users
- to have exchanges with users before implementation
- to put in place an identification system used successfully by the DGI (sending a code by email or telephone)
- and therefore to have the time to test a solution instead of making changes in a hurry, which explains why today, 7 July, damancom.ma returns a blank page!
To be continued…
Today, 17 July, errors persist
On 17 July, the extended deadline for submitting your tax return, some errors remain:
- it was impossible for a new user to access the page for changing their temporary password and therefore to use the site
- it was impossible to edit the BDS (Bordereaux de Déclaration des Salaires)
- and throughout the week there were numerous occasions when the site was either inaccessible or contained errors, the result of modifications made live, I imagine ‘in production’.
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