Sources report widespread problems in the process of collecting fees for and distributing electronic identity cards (e-tazkiras) across tazkira zones in Kabul and the provinces. They say part of the fees collected from applicants never reaches the banking system.
According to these sources, the main problems in this process are a lack of transparency in how fees are collected and transferred, delays in distributing tazkiras, cards being printed in the absence of applicants, and a rise in errors in the recorded information. In some cases, they claim, applicants pay the fee but then run into a problem with the biometric process or with the information on the card. They are then left waiting for months to have it corrected, and the fee is never refunded.
Several citizens of Afghanistan say the distribution process for electronic identity cards has faced technical and administrative problems on top of its existing identity-related and political challenges, drawing persistent complaints from applicants. According to sources, these problems have worsened since the Taliban took control, as the hiring of unqualified staff and Taliban fighters has compounded the difficulties. Recurring concerns include misspelled names, delays in distributing and printing tazkiras, and allegations of corruption and embezzlement of the revenue the process generates. The Taliban have not responded to any of these concerns.
Sources within the National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA), which the Taliban control, say that in the zones distributing electronic tazkiras in Kabul and the provinces, fee revenue is not being deposited through the banking system, creating conditions for widespread corruption. According to these sources, rather than making the process transparent, the electronic tazkira distribution center collects the fee from applicants before the card is issued. When an error occurs on the card, applicants are then forced to wait months to have it corrected.
One source said: “When there’s a problem with a tazkira, or the biometric device fails to read a person’s fingerprint because of a physical issue with their finger and the biometric process cannot be completed, the money taken from them is not returned.” According to this source, many people run into trouble during the biometric process because of the strenuous labor they perform, and if their fingerprint cannot be registered, the fee they paid is not refunded.
The source added: “Money for electronic tazkiras is handed over outside the banking system. An amount equal to the number of tazkiras printed is transferred to the NSIA’s finance department, but the money tied to case files that have been received and reviewed but not printed stays with the managers at the center and gets embezzled. That is why applicants at most electronic tazkira distribution centers face delays of up to a month.”
Sources say that, under standard procedure, once an applicant’s identity has been verified and their biometric and demographic information collected, a quality control officer is supposed to enter that information into the system for printing the electronic tazkira in the applicant’s presence. If this procedure were followed, applicants should receive their tazkira within a week at most, given the weekly transfers between zones.
Sources involved in the distribution process say another problem is that tazkiras are often printed without the applicant present, which leads to more errors in the recorded information. They say that when an applicant is present at printing, they can review all the recorded information, and the card is only printed once they confirm it is correct.
Sources in the electronic tazkira distribution zone of Kabul’s Qarabagh district say delays in the distribution process had already been reported before, but instead of being resolved, the problems have grown significantly worse.
This comes after citizens of Afghanistan previously complained about Taliban obstruction of the electronic tazkira distribution process and about the group raising the price of the cards. Several residents of the capital and neighboring provinces had told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that they had been left waiting for months to obtain a tazkira and still had not received one. They accused the Taliban of obstruction, abuse, bribery, and favoritism, saying these practices have kept them from obtaining their identity cards.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
تذکرههای الکترونیکی؛ از حیفومیل عواید تا سرگردانی متقاضیان
