Elections are drawing near and Pakistani citizens are ensuring they have identity cards to cast votes. The National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) has increased the fee for Computerized National Identity Cards in every category. Through Statutory notification(SRO) the upsurge in the charges is above hundred percent. While the fee for urgent CNICs has been increased by 300 percent. The fee in all categories has increased after the amendment in the NADRA rules of 2002.
As per the Interior Ministry notifications, the normal fees of the CNIC’s is now 400PKR. Previously, it was 200PKR. The urgent fee is now 1150PKR while previously it was 300PKR. The fee of executive CNIC is now changed to 2150PKR from 1000PKR.
In order to make a normal smart card, now citizens will need to pay 750PKR as compared to the previous fee which was 400PKR. The charges for an urgent smart card have been increased from 800PKR to 1500PKR and charges for executive smart card have been increased from 1600PKR to 2500PKR.
The charges for NICOP (National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis) have also been revised. The new fee of normal smart NICOP is $39 and urgent NICOP will cost $57 while the executive NICOP charges are $75. This is for the countries that fall in Zone-A category while countries that fall in Zone-B, the new charges are $20 for normal, $30 for urgent and $40 for executive smart NICOP.
According to a senior official at NADRA, the rates have been revised to reduce the subsidiary that is given by NADRA for every CNIC as the Supreme Court has told the authority that the fee for NICOP should be reduced. Citizens may now face difficulty paying the increased amounts to get their CNICs made. Those who want to cast their vote in the upcoming elections and do not have a CNIC will have no other option but to apply for a new CNIC.
