NADRA cancels 4.2 million CNICs of deceased persons

ISLAMABAD: The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has cancelled around 4.2 million Computerised National Identity Card (CNICs) of deceased individuals after completing a nationwide reconciliation process between civil registration records and the national citizen database.

According to the authority, the exercise was carried out under the National Database and Registration Authority Ordinance 2000 and relevant rules of the National Identity Card Regulations to ensure the accuracy and integrity of Pakistan’s national identification system.

Under the legal framework, NADRA regularly updates the national citizen database with key life events including birth, death, marriage and divorce. These records are received from provincial and local governments through Civil Registration Management Systems maintained by institutions such as union councils, town committees and cantonment boards.

During the reconciliation process, the authority found that millions of CNICs remained active despite the individuals already being registered as deceased in provincial civil registration systems. While many families had reported deaths to local authorities, they had not applied for cancellation of the deceased person’s identity card, resulting in discrepancies between civil registration records and the national database.

NADRA had earlier waived the fee for cancelling CNICs of deceased individuals and removed the requirement to submit the physical card to encourage families to complete the process. As a result, nearly three million CNICs were voluntarily cancelled by families.

However, more than 4.2 million identity cards remained active despite death records in civil registration systems. After verification of these records, NADRA cancelled the cards to prevent any potential misuse or fraud involving the identity of deceased persons.

The authority acknowledged that in rare cases deaths may be wrongly or maliciously reported by relatives. Citizens who face difficulties due to their CNIC being cancelled after being mistakenly declared deceased can approach the nearest NADRA registration centre. After biometric verification, the CNIC will be restored immediately without any fee.

In such cases, citizens will also be provided details of the local authority where the death was registered and the relative who reported the information.

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Meanwhile, NADRA has also launched a nationwide awareness campaign to strengthen coordination between birth registration records and the national identification system.

The authority has started sending SMS messages to parents or guardians of around 14 million children whose births are registered in provincial civil registration systems but who have not yet been entered into NADRA’s national database.

Parents are being urged to complete their children’s registration so that a Child Registration Certificate (CRC), commonly known as the B-Form, can be issued and the child can be formally included in the national identity system.

To further facilitate citizens, NADRA will soon introduce CRC issuance services through its e-Sahulat franchise network, making child registration services more accessible across the country.

The authority reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining the integrity, accuracy and reliability of Pakistan’s national identification system through stronger coordination with provincial and local civil registration institutions.