Islamabad, Nov 12: NADRA Considers CNIC Fee Hike to Fund Expansion of New Offices Nationwide. The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has suggested that an increase in identity card fees might be necessary to support the expansion of its office network due to funding challenges, according to a report from Geo News.
Although the authority has opened additional offices, numerous citizens continue to experience lengthy delays when renewing or updating their computerized national identity cards (CNICs), indicating that the expansion has not completely resolved accessibility problems.
In a recent meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee, NADRA Chairman Lt. Gen. Muhammad Munir Afsar revealed that 61 tehsils in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan lack NADRA offices.
During the session, chaired by Raja Khurram Nawaz, Afsar stated that to extend services, an increase in CNIC fees would be necessary since NADRA is self-sustaining and has not adjusted fees since the executive order by former PM Yousaf Raza Gilani made the initial CNICs free.
Some members of the committee voiced their worries about the financial impact of CNIC fees on citizens, suggesting that the cost for the first ID card be waived. Furthermore, security issues were raised, including allegations of Afghan nationals possessing fraudulent CNICs. NADRA officials mentioned that they are actively working to monitor data breaches and prevent the unauthorized issuance of CNICs.
