The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has approached the National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) for rationalisation of NADRA verification cost for micro-insurance in line with the rationalization approved for the branchless banking (BB) accounts. Sources told Business Recorder here on Tuesday that the issue of rationalization of NADRA verification cost was discussed in the fifth meeting of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) Steering Committee held at Karachi.
Rationalization of NADRA verification cost for micro-insurance policies: The SECP has written a letter to NADRA requesting rationalization of the NADRA verification cost for micro-insurance in line with the rationalization approved for the BB accounts. The NADRA solicited information with respect to scope of services and parameters of verification. The information was provided to the NADRA but their response is still awaited.
The NADRA verification cost was brought down to Rs 10 for opening of BB accounts. NADRA's CNIC verification facility to provide data on seven fields will be transferred from production to live environment. During the last NFIS Steering Committee meeting, chairman Pakistan Banks' Association (PBA) asked whether or not the cost of CNIC verification has been rationalized by NADRA. The official of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) responded that the said cost has been reduced to Rs 10 for seven data fields to meet the KYC requirements. This facility has been offered to BB provider by the NADRA in production environment and it will become live from October 17, 2017 after completing the testing phase.
The chairman stated, "We need to adopt a robust communication strategy for the publicity of the initiatives." The NFIS Secretariat, while adding on the communication strategy, shared that the SBP usually issues press releases to disseminate the information with respect to various initiatives/interventions. The committee agreed that NFIS Secretariat will prepare a quarterly NFIS update and it will be electronically shared with all stakeholders including the steering committee members.
It has been decided that the SBP team will approach NADRA on the issue of rationalization of CNIC verification cost for extending rationalized CNIC verification cost of Rs 10 for micro-insurers.