IN a major step toward a unified and digitally secure identity ecosystem, the Federal Government has formally upgraded the National Identity Card (NIC) and Pakistan Origin Card (POC) frameworks under its vision of “One Nation – One Identity.”
The changes introduced on Tuesday modernize Pakistan’s identity system with QR-based verification, enhanced biometric features, stronger fraud controls and improved citizen facilitation. These establish a robust legal basis for quick and secure verification of identity credentials in both offline and online environments. This will also enable all citizens to carry similar cards instead of currently prevalent two types of national identity cards one of which is with microchip and the other without.
It is a matter of satisfaction that NADRA is keeping pace with the emerging technologies to realize the objective of producing secure ID documents with latest features to help citizens in different environments. Earlier, it updated procedures for verification and cancellation of identity documents, amendments to the National Identity Card (NIC) framework, a revised regulatory structure for the Pakistan Origin Card (POC) and a modern procurement regime for the organization. These measures are designed to strengthen the security and accuracy of the national identity system. NADRA also introduced Nishan Pakistan, a dedicated web-based portal that serves as a single digital gateway for government entities and regulated private organizations to onboard, subscribe and access NADRA’s identity verification services in a secure, efficient and compliant manner. Verification services are now delivered through a completely digital, standardized, and regulation-driven process, ensuring lawful access, accountability and enhanced data protection. The latest rules will surely help improve transparency and data protection aspects but they contain a provision which envisages where a card is suspended, all verification, authentication and related services linked to that card shall stand suspended forthwith. This seems to be in violation of the recent Supreme Court verdict declaring suspension of the CNIC as a violation of fundamental rights of a citizen.
