Govt mulling NID fee for expatriate Bangladeshis

The Election Commission is planning to impose a nominal fee on National Identification (NID) card registration for expatriate Bangladeshis.

Brigadier General Saidul Islam, director general of the National Identity Registration (NID) wing of the commission, told Dhaka Tribune on Friday that the matter of imposing a token fee on NID registration was discussed with the Foreign Ministry, Home Ministry, and others concerned earlier this month.

“The final decision on the fees will be taken by the commission. We will sit to finalize the fee at the EC on Sunday,” the NID wing DG added, mentioning that the fee may be around $15-20.

Currently, the government distributes smart NIDs free of cost but charges fees for corrections, replacing damaged cards or issuance of duplicate cards.

In 2019, the Election Commission introduced NID services in Malaysia and the UAE. The same services were introduced in the UK in February, NID wing DG Saidul Islam said.

After the launching of the NIDs services, the NID wing has received 48 applications from Malaysia, 39 from Saudi Arabia, 530 from the United Arab Emirates and 121 from the United Kingdom, according to EC data.

The commission is set to distribute smart NIDs in the UAR, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia after the Covid-19 situation improves, while the remaining applications have been sent to the local office concerned for inquiry, the commission’s records said.

To register as a voter, Bangladeshi migrants can fill up a form online at services.nidw.gov.bd.

However, biometric registration services remain closed due to the pandemic.

Online registration 3,515,000

The NID Wing DG said over 3.5 million citizens have so far registered online, including about 113,000 new voters 

Furthermore, over 2.5 million citizens have downloaded NIDs during this time.

EC taking steps to prevent inclusion of Rohingyas in voter list

The commission has set up a separate database with biometric information on about one million Rohingyas and sent an inquiry team to investigate the illegal inclusion of Rohingyas on the voter list. 

A 8-member committee has been formed to investigate the matter.