In continuation of its efforts to address the issue of accumulating thousands of civil IDs, the Public Authority for Civil Information is contemplating the implementation of fines for individuals who delay collecting their completed cards for more than three months.
Mansour Al-Muthin, the Director General of the Authority, told Al-Rai that over 220,000 civil IDs are currently backlogged in the Authority’s systems, 70 percent of them belonging to expatriates who hold Articles 18 and 22 residence permits. This situation is primarily attributed to their underutilization of the ‘My Identity’ application, reports Al-Rai daily.
The piling up of these cards consumes storage space and hampers the issuance of new cards, possibly hindering those who urgently need them.
As a remedy, PACI is considering a fine, potentially up to 20 dinars, for individuals who fail to collect their civil cards within three months of their completion.
The proposed study, to be presented to the Authority’s Board of Directors upon completion, outlines the implementation of a fine if citizens or residents do not collect their cards within the specified timeframe.
If the cards remain uncollected after an additional three months, they will be destroyed. In such cases, the concerned individual will be required to apply for a new card, pay the fine, and relinquish any claim to the previous issuance fees.
To expedite the process of card issuance and meet the demands of cardholders, the Authority has implemented measures such as halting the issuance of cards submitted before May 23. This measure aims to accelerate the issuance of cards submitted after that date, resulting in more efficient and faster card issuance, taking just a few days.
To further improve the situation, plans are underway to augment the current delivery machines with new ones, allowing for the distribution of a larger number of cards to supplement the existing 100 machines currently in use.