The National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) said before the Supreme Court on Monday that the federal government owed the authority Rs 2.5b in arrears. NADRA further claimed that the non-payment of this amount would affect the regulatory authority’s ‘sustainability as an identity-management organisation of international repute.’
NADRA made the statement in a report submitted to the apex court with regard to a suo-motu notice against the authority on the exorbitant fee it is charging for the issuance of National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP) and cancellation of the Pakistan Origin Card (POC). The case is being headed by Chief Justice, Mian Saqib Nisar.
The report said that Nadra does not take any funding from the government for running its vast operations nationwide and worldwide. The pending amount of Rs 2.5 billion, NADRA explained, was in relation to the first-time issuance of ID cards free of cost to the citizens; the federal government had decided to partially bear this cost but was not making these payments, creating financial pressure on the authority.
NADRA cited high overseas costs as the primary reason for the NICOP being expensive. It currently operates 14 registration centres abroad whose expenses, such as staff salaries, rent, renovation costs, and maintenance costs are incurred in foreign currencies.
The report further explained that the cost of the IT infrastructure was much higher in these centres in foreign countries as compared to Pakistan. Since NADRA is also issuing NICOP and POC online, it requires a state-of-the-art security system and integration with international credit card services – adding to the cost of running these centres.
NADRA clarified that the cost of these two overseas cards has not been increased since 2012. Also, the authority has increased their validity from 7 to 10 years without any additional cost, for facilitating overseas Pakistanis.
