National ID compulsory for pension, social security allowances

Kathmandu, May 23: The Department of  National ID and Civil Registration (DoNIDCR) under the Ministry of Home Affairs has said that preparations are underway to make a mandatory provision for getting pensions and social security allowances. 

Officials at the Department have said that the national ID card, which has not been used for anything other than making e-passport, will now be made compulsory for receiving government pensions and social security allowance by the senior citizens, single women and people with disabilities.

Currently, about Rs. 109 billion is spent on social security allowances. However, there have been complaints that many individuals receiving pensions from government coffers are also receiving social security benefits or allowance and National ID card may play a role to end enjoying double benefits.

"If the national ID card is made mandatory in social security and pension cards, we estimate that we can save Rs. 1 billion from the people enjoying double benefits," said Yubaraj Katel, Director General for the Department of National ID and Civil Registration said on Wednesday.

The Department has stated that the implementation of this provision of making national ID compulsory also in pension and social security allowance will start in the first phase from 28 districts from the upcoming fiscal year.

"We are discussing implementing this by publishing a notice in the official national gazette," said DG Katel.

For receiving social security allowance, every eligible citizen needs to renew their social security card every year on the 1st of Shrawan (mid-July). 

Some of the municipalities in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur and other districts outside the Capital have also received circular notice sent by the Department regarding implementation of the compulsory provision of National ID card or number for people to get their social security allowances, said local representatives.

Many people still do not have the national ID card, and most who have processed for it have not taken it, and making the mandatory use of the card might create a hassle for those receiving senior citizen allowances, single women allowances, and disability allowances.

Rameshwar Lama, ward chair of Nagarjun Municipality-1, Kathmandu, recently discussed the challenges of making the ID card mandatory to senior citizens, single women and disable persons in the executive meeting of the Municipality. 

"In our ward, even though a team came to collect the details, the ID cards have not arrived yet. Many elderly people still need to make it, and it seems it will be a problem for them," he said.

"It will probably help prevent the misuse of social security allowances, though," ward chair Lama said. 

The National ID Department is deploying mobile teams to quickly include people who still need to get their ID cards, according to Mukesh Kumar Keshari, director and chief for the National ID Management Section.

"Once the National ID card is obtained in Nepal, you will have access to all facilities. We are sending teams in each ward to distribute the cards who have already registered their names and collect details of those who have been left out," said Director Keshari.

At present, a national ID number (NIN) is mandatory for making and renewing new passports. The Department of Passports verifies the details based on the same ID card.

Previously, due to the lack of mandatory ID requirements in many agencies, officials acknowledged that people had not shown much interest in obtaining the card.

"Because the utility of the ID card has not been seen so far, many people have not come to take it. We are now saying that once we publish the notice in the official gazette, citizens don’t need to carry citizenship certificates if they carry the ID card," claimed Keshari.

The Department has also its claim that the national ID will also be enough for getting a SIM card, opening a bank account, and other activities. The PAN card and health insurance system have already been integrated into this national ID, and preparations are underway to include voter ID in it soon, he said. 

Over 10 million national ID yet to be printed 

According to the Department, so far, 14.8 million citizens have registered for the national ID card in Nepal. However, so far only 3.6 million cards have been printed, leaving 11.2 million people without their ID cards although they have their national ID number. 

Most of those who have their cards have not collected them from the government offices as the card has not come into use in many official works and not become fully mandatory.

The Department has said that every day, the office has been printing 18,000 national ID cards and now there will be no delay and citizens don't have to wait for months to get it, said Director Keshari.

The government has been providing facilities based on the national ID number given during its registration time. Since the biometric details collected during the registration are stored in an electronic system, government agencies can obtain individual information from that system, according to officials.

Driving license details also in national ID 

Meanwhile, the DoNIDCR and the Department of Transport Management Office have stated that technical work is underway to include driving license details in the national ID card.

Officials have claimed that once the integration of driving license details into the national ID card is completed, there shall be no need to carry a separate driving license. However, due to the Transport Act having separate provisions for issuance of driving licenses, the printing of licenses will not be stopped for now, according to the Transport Management Office.

Director Keshari said that work was ongoing to integrate the details of driving licenses issued across the country into the national ID card within the next month.

"After showing the national ID card, the traffic police can scan the code on it and see the information of the driving license and can also impose fines based on that," he said.

"The concept of integrating the details of driving license into the national ID card is also meant to make the citizens just to carry only one national ID wherever they travel. The work is ongoing under the idea that if you have the ID, you don’t need to carry others," said Keshari.