Multiple rides on one Ventra card

I have always used my Ventra card to pay for friends or children on the CTA. Never had a problem just tapping it as they file through the turnstile. Today on the red line it wouldn't let me pay for more than one fare, the screen read "X-Multiple Attempts". I asked the employee and he said you can't pay for multiple people, you have to wait 16 minutes between each attempt. Huh? Why would they change this? They are getting their full paid fair, so why change this? I eventually got through but it was annoying because my first kid was on the other side of the turnstile while I figured it out. Is this for real?