Major change: What Pakistan’s new chipless ID card means for you

Dubai: For millions of Pakistanis, a national identity card is something they carry every day but rarely think about.

That could change with a new card that replaces the familiar microchip with something most people already have – a smartphone.

The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has introduced a new chipless National Identity Card featuring a secure QR code, allowing authorised users to verify identity information using a smartphone rather than specialised chip-reading equipment.

The change, which took effect on August 14, is aimed at making identity verification more practical while reducing Pakistan’s reliance on imported technology. The new card is manufactured locally by the National Security Printing Company (NSPC) in Karachi according to NADRA’s technical and security specifications.

Pakistan introduced its chip-based Smart National Identity Card about 14 years ago, but the technology did not deliver its full potential because the infrastructure needed to read the chip was not widely available.

In other words, having a chip on the card was only useful if the institution checking it had the right equipment.

The new QR-based system is designed to overcome that problem. The code can be read through a smartphone camera and verified using NADRA’s Pak Identity (PakID) mobile application or authorised software.

That could make identity checks easier at banks, telecom companies, hospitals, police stations, Pakistan Railways and other authorised institutions.

The QR code will contain relevant identity information along with the cardholder’s photograph.

Instead of staff manually typing names, addresses and other details into computer systems, authorised institutions will be able to capture the information digitally. NADRA says this should make data entry more consistent and help reduce errors.

The card itself will also carry several features designed to make important information easier to identify.

It will display the family number and symbols indicating persons with disabilities, senior citizens, organ donors and citizens of Pakistan administered Jammu and Kashmir. Names and addresses will appear in both Urdu and English.

NADRA has also updated the card’s visible and covert security features to meet current security requirements.

The most immediate change is that citizens will not need to depend on a specialised chip reader every time their identity needs to be verified.

A smartphone-based system could be particularly useful as Pakistan expands digital access to government, banking, telecom and other services.

It also means that the technology behind the identity card is becoming less dependent on a specialised piece of hardware and more compatible with devices already widely available.

However, the new system does not mean existing cardholders need to rush to replace their cards. NADRA has said all identity cards already issued will remain valid until their respective expiry dates.

The QR-based card is being introduced in phases. Initially, from August 14, it replaces the standard National Identity Card.

From January 2027, the new format is scheduled to be extended to all categories of national identity cards, including the National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP) and Juvenile Cards.

In the final phase, the Pakistan Origin Card (POC) will also transition to the chipless, QR-based format.

The change is not only about how an identity card is verified. It also reflects Pakistan’s push for greater technological self-reliance.

The previous system depended on an imported microchip, while the new card uses a QR code and is manufactured domestically by NSPC in Karachi.

NADRA says the move is part of its evolution from an organisation primarily issuing identity documents into a broader digital trust and verification platform.

Its wider plans include national digital identity, a PakID digital vault, verifiable credentials, QR-based document verification and consent-based data sharing.

With the PakID application having surpassed 18 million downloads, the growing use of smartphones could provide the infrastructure needed to make mobile-based identity verification more practical.

The QR card may ultimately be less important as a physical piece of plastic than as a gateway to a wider digital identity system.

If banks, hospitals, telecom operators, police and other authorised organisations can reliably verify identity using smartphones and approved software, citizens could face fewer manual checks and less repetitive data entry when accessing services.

For now, the transition is gradual. Existing cards remain valid, while the new QR-based format is being rolled out category by category.