The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has begun work on money transfer scheme through merchant cards to facilitate people from the low-income group.
Nadra Chairman Brigadier (retd) Salim Moin told APP in an interview that the proposed system will help the people working in different cities of the country to transfer money to their families through the simple use of merchant cards.
He said for this purpose Nadra was in the process of fabricating machines on the lines of the highly successful kiosk bill technology. The merchant or debit cards will have all the information about the user stored in a chip identical with that on his national identity card.
The Nadra Chief, who made a brief stopover in London on his way home from an official trip to France, expressed hope that the project would be launched within the next three months as the necessary permission has been obtained from the State Bank of Pakistan.
He termed the introduction of kiosk machines for payment of utility bills as the 'outstanding success' for the organisation and said 240 such machines placed in all the major cities of the country has led to the collection of Rs 1 billion in just five months of the introduction of these machines.
"As more and more people have begun using this facility, the rate of deposit of utility bills through these machines has increased by Rs 6 million each month," he said.
Explaining the other projects of his organisation, Brigadier (retd) Moin said Nadra was also currently busy in the computerisation of the Punjab Government Employees census. This, he added, was a pilot project, which has commenced from Faisalabad district and would then be introduced to nine other districts of the province.
The computerised census, he explained, will help the provincial government to eliminate ghost employees, increase its efficiency and reduce expenditures.
Moin said Vehicle Identification and Monitoring System would be placed at Chaman on border with Afghanistan by this June to help in the control of smuggled or stolen vehicles across the border.
He further said the NWFP government has also shown keen interest in this system and the Provincial Chief Minister approved its installation at various points in Peshawar. He said Nadra overseas offices have so far issued 2.2 million NICOP (National Identity Cards for Overseas Pakistanis) in UK, UAE and Saudi Arabia while 200,000 POC (Pakistan Origin Cards) have also been issued.
The POC valid for seven years allow its holders to visit Pakistan visa free. Brigadier (retd) Moin said NICOP were very popular with Pakistani students in USA as it provide them with a valid identity proof and has also been recognised as a legitimate document by the US authorities.