No change in ID card fee: MOI
By Loa Iok-sin / STAFF REPORTER
Tue, Sep 28, 2010 - Page 2
Despite complaints from the public about the need to pay a fee every time anyone changes their address on the national ID card, the Ministry of the Interior yesterday said it was unlikely to change the format of the ID cards at the moment, but did not rule out making changes at some point in the future.
Deputy Minister of the Interior Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎) was responding to complaints over having to pay NT$50 to obtain a new national ID card every time a person changes their registered home address or marriage status. According to ministry figures, between 1 million and 2 million people change their national ID cards each year.
“Some people suggested we put an integrated circuit chip in the national ID card and store all the information on it so that every time people change information, it can be done electronically,” Chien said. “Of course we would not rule out that possibility … but there are two critical issues we have to overcome before we can do so.”
One problem, Chien said, is that national ID cards with an IC chip would mean IC readers would have to be made available everywhere.
“Any public or private institution — whether it’s a household registration office, a police station, a police checkpoint on the street, a bank or even two individuals who sign a contract — that needs to verify information on someone’s IC-capable national ID card would need a card reader,” he said.
The second problem, the deputy minister said, is the cost.“In fact, we discussed whether to continue using paper ID cards or IC chip cards when we were planning for the current version of national ID cards” that were first put in use in 2005, Chien said. “One of the key reasons why we decided to still use paper version is the cost: A comprehensive change to IC cards would cost NT$4.3 billion [US$137 million], while the paper version costs less than NT$1 billion.”
Asked whether the ministry plans to waive the fee for getting a replacement ID card, Chien said that while the ministry was open to all suggestions, it was not inclined to do so at the moment.
“The cost of making a new ID card — including the anti- forgery design — is NT$48 per piece, which does not include the manpower and the ink used to print it,” he said.
Human rights groups opposed the use of IC cards, saying they could infringe on people’s privacy.
“By using IC cards, we would not know what information is stored on them as we cannot read the card ourselves and have no control over them,” Taiwan Association for Human Rights secretary-general Tsai Chi-hsun (蔡季勳) said.
