Nepalese government asks Gemalto and Morpho to submit financial proposals for biometric ID cards

The Nepalese government is working to introduce national ID cards in the country and has asked Gemalto and Morpho to submit financial proposals after evaluating their tender documents.

Reported in eKantipur.com, the government expects the project to cost $8 million in its first phase and another $117 million to distribute the cards. There has been some controversy surrounding this procurement process though, as there have been complaints that the requirements from the government were tailored to only Gemalto and Morpho.

The new ID cards will contain biographical information as well as a photograph of the cardholder and four fingerprints – two index fingers and both thumbs.

Nepal currently has a number of biometric projects on the go. The Nepalese Election Commission recently completed its biometric voter registration exercise, registering 12.1 million eligible voters in the country, though there has been some disagreement over whether or not this represents an increase in comparison to previous elections.

Reported previously, a recently-published research report has found that the global market for ePassports is set to grow at a CAGR of 32.5% over the period of 2012-2016 and that Gemalto, Morpho, Giesecke and Devrient and Oberthur Technologies are currently dominating the space.

Article Topics

civil ID  |  Gemalto  |  morpho  |  Nepal  |  purchasing